Time Will Tell Us
by winchestelena
Summary: Stefan never thought that he'd meet one girl that makes him happy. Makes him feel alive. And once he realizes it, he shouldn't let the chances go. AH/AU
1. Chapter 1

Stefan Salvatore. The most wanted boy in Virginia High School. The most gorgeous, rich, popular yet down-to-earth person in Mystic Falls. Every girl wanted him. Everyone knew him. People just couldn't deny his charm. His smile always made people melted. His green eyes always made people over-acted. He's too perfect for words. Except, for the new girl in the school.

"Yo, Stefan. Do you want to play football?" Matt, the captain of team football slapped Stefan's shoulder and walked beside him to the parking lot.

"No. I'm not in the mood, Matty."

"Why? You've never said no to me." He asked with his curious eyes.

"I'm not feeling well." He answered and kept walking.

"Well, that's a… Wait, who is she?" Matt suddenly stopped. His eyes were focus on the cheerleaders.

Stefan also stopped and followed Matt's eyes. There was an attractive girl who practiced team's new moves. She was so beautiful. She had brown eyes, brown-light hair in a ponytail, good shape of her body, olive skin and sweet smile on her face. No, she didn't smile because she looked at Matt or Stefan. She even didn't notice them at all. She was too focused on practicing the new moves.

"She must be a new student here. I've never seen her face before." Stefan answered.

"I think so. She's so beautiful." Stefan looked at Matt and suddenly he laughed. He couldn't believe how easy Matt fell for a girl just because of her face. He wrapped his arm around Matt's shoulder and pulled him away. But Matt's eyes never left her until he couldn't see her again from the parking lot.

"I feel something." Matt told Stefan. His face was different.

"Feel what?" asked Stefan as he opened the car door and put his bag in.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm falling in love. Hell. I'm seriously falling in love, Stefan."

"You what? Oh please stop this, Matt."

"No, I'm serious. I'm falling in love."

"With the new cheerleader?"

"Yeah. Didn't you see that she's so beautiful? She's so attractive." His eyes were looking at something far. He definitely was imagining her face.

Stefan looked at him disbelief. No. He was confused. Did love really come so fast? He's one of the rational persons. He never fell in love with a girl in all of sudden. But he didn't say anything to Matt. He just popped in his car and turned the machine on. When he's ready to leave, he opened the door window and shouted, "Good bye, Mr. Easy Falling In Love. I love you!" Matt suddenly realized that Stefan teased him and tried to stop the car. But Stefan drove his car faster and left Matt behind.

"Falling in love? Matt was falling in love with the new cheerleader? Ok, she's not bad. She's truly beautiful. Energetic. Attractive. But…"

Stefan couldn't stop thinking about Matt's confession. An 'I'm falling in love' confession.

"And why even do I have to think about him and his feeling? Whatever." He said to himself. After he reached his home, he walked in and met his brother, Damon. He's busy on his wedding plan with Bonnie, his college friend.

"Afternoon, Brother." Damon greeted Stefan.

"What are you doing?"

"Doing things for my wedding. Wanna help me out?"

"Sure. What do you need?"

"Come here."

Stefan sat on the couch next to him. Damon handed the paper that full of list. Names of people for the invitations.

"What do you want me to do with this?"

"Check the invitations and mark the names."

"OK."

Stefan helped Damon whole day and finished at 8 o'clock. If it wasn't because he would go to school tomorrow, he wanted to help his brother all night long. And he was hungry though. So he ordered pizza for both of them.

"Thank you, Stefan for helping me out. It was really nice of you." Damon said after they finished their dinner.

"No problem, D. Let me know if you need anything else."

"Sure. But for now, you have to go to bed. School tomorrow."

Stefan chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. And you, don't stay up too long. You have to keep your energy. Good night."

"I'm a Superman, dude. I'm strong. Good night." He laughed and collected his papers. Stefan went upstairs slowly. He was tired. But suddenly he remembered the new girl. The new cheerleader that Matt was falling in love with at the first sight. Her eyes and smile came into his mind. God. He couldn't resist her charm. Her beautiful face. "What am I going to do with her then?" he asked himself. Suddenly his phone vibrated. He checked it and saw Matt's name.

"Knew the girl's name yet?"

"How did you know?"

"What?"

"Her name is Elena, Stef. Elena Gilbert."

"Elena Gilbert?"

"Yup. Her name is beautiful as her face."

"Shut up, Matt. Don't be so mushy."

"Oh really? You'll see when I get her. I'll laugh and kick your ass."

"OK. And I can't wait until the day comes."

"You shut up, Stefan."

Stefan laughed and ended the phone call. "So her name is Elena? Not bad." he said to himself. Then he took a quick shower and slept in less an hour.

Next afternoon…

Matt wasn't be able to stop talking about Elena all day. Elena this, Elena that. But Stefan kept quiet. Actually he did think about her either. He wanted to know about her. He wanted to introduce himself to her. He wanted to be friends with her. And he kept telling himself to do that.

"Where are you going?" Matt asked his closest friend.

"Home."

"What? You're not gonna practice again?"

"Shit!" Suddenly he turned around. He seriously forgot that he had to practice today. "I forgot."

"You forgot about it, Stefan?"

"It's a human thing, Matty. We forget about things sometimes. Come on, let's go practice." Stefan went to Matt and pulled him to the field.

Of course the cheerleaders were practicing. And of course Elena was there too. This time, Stefan looked at Elena. She was beautiful just like he saw yesterday. Her smile didn't change. The smile that made him sure that she was a fun girl. Matt realized that Stefan looked at Elena. And he felt jealous. He didn't know why. When he looked at the girl, she was looking at Stefan and smiled even wider. And he gave her his best smile. "This can't be happening." Matt told himself. "This rich boy wouldn't get the girl. She's mine."

Later after they had practiced, Matt went to Stefan and asked something really important.

"So, are you finally interested with Elena?" His voice was clearly defensive. Stefan realized that. He didn't say anything but glared at him. He shook his head and began walk left him behind. Matt accepted that as a yes. He started to worry. He knew that if Stefan was interested with someone, he'd never give up on her. He'd take risks for everything. And it made him confused, should he give up and let Stefan with the new girl? "No. I won't give up. I saw her first. Then I'll get her first." He said to himself as he stared at Stefan who was walking to the parking lot.

At the cheerleaders' place…

"OK girls. It's finish. We have to go home. Thank you for coming." Caroline, the chief of cheerleaders clapped her hands and began to prepare her stuffs. She's one of the famous people in the school. Everyone knew her. She was stunning with her blonde hair and beautiful smile. And she never had enemies. Who wouldn't hate her?

And Caroline was the one who asked Elena to join the team. She knew that Elena was interested become a cheerleader since she guided Elena to walked around school on her first day.

_"Where do you come from, Elena?"_

_ "Indonesia. My parents got a job there. But I was born in here."_

_ "So you're back with your parents?"_

_ "No. My parents died 4 years ago. I came here by myself."_

_ "Oh my God. I'm so sorry, Elena."_

_ "Nah, it was fine." She reassured her with her best smile. And Caroline smiled with her apologetic eyes._

_ "You live by yourself?"_

_ "No, I live with my aunt."_

_ "Any siblings?"_

_ "One brother. But he stayed in Indonesia." They stopped at the cafeteria door. They had explored all of school places and Caroline got something to do._

_ "This is the last station. I have to go. My team is waiting for me."_

_ "What team?"_

_ "Cheerleader."_

_ "You're a cheerleader?"_

_ "I am the boss." Caroline winked at Elena and smiled proudly. "Why?"_

_ "I'm just asking. I was a cheerleader in Indonesia. And maybe I could continue."_

_ "Well you could join us."_

_ "Really?"_

_ "Yup. Just come to our place tomorrow after school and show me your moves."_

_ "OK. Thank you, Caroline."_

_ "No need to say thanks, Elena. See you tomorrow." Caroline said as she hugged her and began walk left Elena alone._

"Care?"

"Yeah, Elena?"

"Thank you for accepting me into this team. It's really nice of you."

"Hey. Your moves are great. And you're an energetic girl, Elena. That's what a cheerleader should be."

Elena just smiled at Caroline. She felt lucky to know her. She was a good friend. Not in a long time, they left school.

Matt was waiting for Elena near the school cage. He knew that Elena came to school by bus. He wanted to start his way. He didn't want Stefan to take the chance first. When he saw Elena with Caroline, he smirked. Caroline, his ex-girlfriend, was walking with his girlfriend-to-be. Matt thought that was ironic.

"Hi. You're Elena, right?" he walked toward the girls and began to talk. Caroline glared at him. She knew that words. She knew that he was trying to get closer to Elena. She knew that he's trying to get Elena. And it hurt her.

"Hi. Yeah, my name is Elena." She answered and smiled. She gave her hand and Matt accepted that eagerly. "Who are you?"

"Oh forgive me. I'm Matt, the captain of team football." He smiled widely. It made him proud.

"Oh nice to meet you, Matt. But sorry I'm in hurry. Maybe we could talk later?"

"Yeah, sure. Be careful, Elena." Caroline could see how much disappointed Matt was. She wanted to laugh. But she also wanted to yell at him that she was still loved him and his moves to get closer to Elena hurt her so much.

"Good bye, Caroline, Matt." Elena started to walk faster and waved her hand. Matt looked at her until he couldn't see her again. Caroline stared at him with her broken-hearted eyes. "Good bye, Caroline." And he left her. She just nodded and walked to her home.

In the boarding house…

"Going somewhere?" Stefan asked Damon when he saw his brother in a suit and put his car key.

Damon turned around. "Ah yes. I have a dinner with Bonnie's family. Take care of this house Stefan." He winked and out of the house.

Stefan was alone. Honestly, he was lonely. Damon would be Bonnie's husband in a month. Sure he would leave him alone here. Suddenly he missed his parents. He wished that they wouldn't have died. He wished that they wouldn't have gone to the Hawaii 7 years ago which made them dead. He was still 10 years old when it happened.

_Damon and Stefan were watching their favorite cartoon network in the living room. The house was very quiet. Their parents had left to Hawaii since the very first thing in the morning. When the cartoon had breaks, Damon changed the channel and stopped at The Breaking News._

_"A plane was crashed in Hawaii today at 9.18 AM. All of the pilots, stewardesses and passengers are dead. The police are still trying to evacuate them all."_

_"Damon. Was that Dad's plane?" Stefan asked when the reported mentioned the plane's code. He was nearly cried and held his brother's hand. "Damon, tell me that Dad and Mom are safe. They'll have fun at the beach. They'll come home on Wednesday. Damon, tell me that's not Dad's plane." He begged and cried loudly. Damon couldn't fight his tears because he knew exactly that was their parents' plane. His Dad called before took off and told him what their plane was and its code. But he didn't answer Stefan. He thought about the news. Their parents' plane was crashed and they're all dead. Left him with the younger brother. His tears fell onto his cheeks as he stared at the TV without expressions._

_ Stefan was still holding onto Damon's hands. Both brothers couldn't do anything. They felt weak. And they were crying until the next day when the cops brought them to the hospital to meet their parents for the last time._

Buzz. Buzz.

Stefan's phone vibrated and took him back to the reality. He unlocked it and saw he received 1 new message.

_We already talked, Stefan. She already knew my name. Game on._

_Matt_

"What game is he talking about?" he asked himself. But then he realized that he was talking about Elena. He replied,

_Like I care, Matty. Enjoy your own game._

Stefan threw his phone beside him and turned on the TV. Though he didn't really watch the shows, he just needed sounds around him. Because he was lonely? He didn't know. But he tried to enjoy it.

Later, Stefan felt cold. He opened his eyes slowly and didn't recognize where he was. He was lying in a snowy garden. Alone. He blinked a few times and stood up. He looked around but didn't find anything. No people, no Damon. Just trees and snows. "This isn't a garden, this is woods. An empty woods." Stefan told himself as he examined everything around him. Suddenly he saw a small silhouette. Didn't know why but he thought that he knew whose silhouette that was. He walked toward it and he could see another silhouette.

He was getting closer and surprised. "Elena? What is she doing here? And who is that guy?" Stefan tried to look at them clearly and heard Elena screamed. He was panic and run to her. "Elena!"

"Elena!" Stefan screamed and sat up on the couch.

"Whoa easy man, easy." Damon grabbed Stefan's shoulder. "Sorry, I woke you up. But you have to move to your room now."

Stefan breathed slowly and asked, "What time is it?"

"2 AM. Move Stefan or I won't warn you again. I'm going upstairs now."

"Yeah. Thank you, Damon." He rubbed his eyes and forehead. He was curious why did he dream about Elena? What did she do with that guy? And why did she scream? This curiousness was killing him. He had to know what was going on with Elena, that guy and of course, himself. "I really have to know her. I have to."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N : I'm so sorry there's so many typos in the first chapter. I'll try to be more careful with my words. And thank you so much for reading my fanfic. I hope you enjoy it. :)**

**Disclaimer : I do NOT own the characters, names or places. I just want to play in my imagination world.**

"Who is Elena?" Damon smirked as he leaned to Stefan's door and watched his brother got ready for school. Stefan surprised. "How did you know?" He turned around and his face was clearly in panic. Damon rolled his eyes and walked into the room.

"You screamed her name when I woke you up, brother. Is she your girlfriend?" he tapped Stefan's shoulder and smiled playfully. Stefan shook his head and said, "No. She's a new student in my school."

"And you're literally interested with her." Damon took the conclusion. But Stefan stayed quiet. Honestly, he was thinking about it either.

"I don't know. But she's really attractive."

"Hmm.. Good luck with that. Oh I'll go to Uncle Dean's place to check everything up for my wedding today." Damon said as he walked toward the door. Suddenly he stopped. "Don't miss me, Stefan. Even though I know you will." He laughed and out to his own room.

"In your dream, dude!" Stefan yelled.

"We will see, baby bro!" Damon yelled back and laughed even louder.

Stefan sighed and sat at the edge of his bed and wore his shoes. "Am I interested with her?" He's not sure about it yet. After that he went downstairs and took his car key on the table near the door. "Damon, I'm off to school! And say hello to Uncle Dean!" And he left the house.

At school…

"Good morning, Elena." She heard a voice when she was putting her books and everything from her bag into the locker. She gasped and quickly turned around.

"Ah you scared me. You, um, Matt right?"

"Yup and I'm sorry." He smiled but changed his expression quickly. "How could you forget my name?" He placed his hand near his heart and gave her you-oh-so-hurt-me face. She laughed and turned back to put the rest of her things. "Sorry, I was afraid that I have a bad memory." Then she closed the door.

"I'm sure you don't." Matt answered as she turned back to him and smiled. Matt was mesmerized by her beautiful face. He didn't blink. He couldn't think about anything else except her.

"Matt? Hello, Matt?" Elena called him and waved her hand in front of Matt's eyes. Finally he blinked and back to the reality. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. You're just… You're beautiful, Elena." He looked at her eyes and she blushed.

"Thank you." She looked down and suddenly she felt uncomfortable. "Uh I have to go to the class, Matt. Bye."

Matt grabbed her wrist. "Wait, wait, wait. Let me walk you there."

"No, it's fine. I can handle myself." She yanked her hand and began walk without looked at him. She didn't know why but when Matt said those words, she felt strange. Dangerous. She knew that she shouldn't think about Matt negatively. But she had that 'alarm' in her mind. That thought made her walk faster and bumped into someone hardly. Her History book fell and without hesitate she squatted to take it. "AW!" She groaned as her forehead hit someone's. She looked at someone in front of her and speechless.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to... Uh… Are you hurt?" He asked as he stood and rubbed his forehead. Man, that was _hurt him_. "Girl, are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay." She took her book from the floor and stood. She was staring at him and rubbed her own forehead. He chuckled and shook his head.

"I'm pretty sure that I hurt you. I'm so sorry."

"No, it wasn't your fault. It's mine. I didn't look around when I was walking. Sorry to you too." She was still rubbing her forehead and couldn't hide her in-pain-face anymore.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry."

"Elena!" Matt called and run to her. "What happened?"

"Good morning, Matty." Matt turned his face to see the voice's owner.

"Huh Stefan. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing."

"Then why is Elena with you?" his voice was defensive. Both Stefan and Elena didn't like it. Whoever Elena wanted to be with, wherever Stefan wanted to be at, was it Matt's problem? Elena glared at him and a bit mad.

"Is that your problem, Matt? Because I don't see that I can't be with someone else at somewhere. I am not yours and you're nobody to me. Please don't cross the line." Then Elena left him with Stefan. Matt was afraid. How could he ask that? Why did he say about something that made Elena seemed like his girlfriend? And Elena was mad at him. He doubted that she would talk to him again. Or even the scarier, she wouldn't have respects for him anymore. Matt wasn't mad at Stefan. Well, maybe a little. Because he talked and smiled at her. That was _Stefan's thing_. Every girl would melt because of his manners.

"I'm late. See you later, Matt." Stefan waved his hand once and off to his class. Matt didn't answer. He was thinking about Elena. And how should he apologize to her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The last class had finished 10 minutes ago. Elena walked back to her locker and Matt was there. She was still mad at him. His words irritated her for sure. She wanted to run and hide in the rest room, but she knew that wouldn't work. She didn't want to spend her time in there. So she stayed calm and walked slowly to her locker.

"I'm so sorry, Elena. I didn't mean to say that. I didn't mean to make you think that I consider you as my girlfriend. Those words spilled out from my mouth. I didn't even think about that. I…" he said as Elena opened the door and put all of her things in her bag.

"OK. But please don't do that anymore. Or I won't talk to you again. Understand?" She closed the door and walked toward the exit door. She didn't want to hear other words from Matt. She wanted to go home as soon as possible since today she had no practice schedule. When she looked at the field, she saw Stefan was practicing football. No friends, no Matt. Just him. And suddenly she didn't want to go home. She wanted to stay at the field to watch him. She found a strategic place and sat there. Her eyes never left Stefan. Her mind didn't stop telling herself how awesome he was. She couldn't stop smiling whenever Stefan made score for himself.

"Enjoying me?" Stefan's voice surprised Elena. She didn't realize that he had finished. Her cheeks redden and her heart beat faster. She was too embarrassed to see his face.

"I.. uh.. Sorry. I just wanted to see how good you are at football."

Stefan laughed a bit and sat next to her. "So am I good?"

"Very good." She answered and looked at him. Stefan smiled then mouthed thank you. It made Elena became more embarrassed. "I should go home." She took her bag and stood.

"It's late. Let me drive you home."

"Ah no, thanks."

"No, seriously. Look at your watch or phone or anything else." Stefan looked serious so she followed what he said. It's 8.26 PM.

"Shit! It's very late. There's no more bus for tonight."

"I told you. Let me drive you home, okay? Wait here." She nodded and then he ran to take his bag across the field. Elena didn't understand why did time fly so fast when she's watching Stefan? Why she didn't realize that it's already dark and Stefan had finished? And why she didn't hear when Stefan came closer to her? That thought made her more and more embarrassed.

"You're ready?"

"Yep."

"Let's go." Elena nodded again and began walk behind him. Stefan didn't like it. It made her like his maid or something. He slowed his steps and finally Elena was beside him. "Why are you walking very slowly?"

"Eh? I didn't realize that. Sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize. By the way, I haven't introduced myself officially. My name is Stefan. Stefan Salvatore." He said as they stopped near his car, turned to face her and offered his hand. Elena looked doubt. Stefan raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously. "You mad at me?"

Elena felt like he was slapping her face. "Mad? Of course not! My name is Elena Gilbert." She took his hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Elena."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Stefan."

"Please get in the car." He said as he opened the door for her.

Elena was mesmerized by his manner. He was so gentle. "Thank you." Stefan smiled a little and closed the door. He went to his own door and popped in. "Sorry for the smell, Elena. You know, I've been practicing for 4 hours or so." He apologized as he turned the machine on.

"No, that's fine, Stefan. To be honest, I don't smell anything."

"You don't smell anything at all or you just don't want me to drop you in the middle of our way?" he asked playfully.

"Both. But the second one is my primary reason."

"Ouch." Both laughed and Stefan drove his car out of school.

15 minutes later…

"So this is your home?"

"Not mine, but my aunt's."

"You live with your aunt?"

"Yup."

"Sorry, but no parents?"

"They died 4 years ago."

"Oh I'm so sorry."

"Nah, it's fine. I can get used to it."

Stefan smiled and looked at her (aunt's) house. Elena followed his eyes. "I'm afraid that my aunt will open the door and be mad at you. She might think that you're the one who made me late." She sighed.

"Wasn't it the truth?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I was the one who made you late." He was teasing her. And her cheeks redden again. Stefan chuckled. "I was kidding. Sorry, Elena." But she couldn't say anything. She just nodded. She swore that he actually could hear how hard her heart beat.

"Kay. Thank you, Stefan for your ride. Sorry if I disturbed you."

"What do you mean with disturb me? That's ok, Elena."

"Oh and I'm sorry for what happened this morning. That's truly my fault." Stefan raised an eyebrow and remembered what did really happen.

"At least our foreheads are fine." He laughed and pointed his and her forehead.

"Yeah, we're lucky." Elena answered and laughed too. "Good night, Stefan."

"Good night."

She opened the door and got out of the car. Before she closed it, she thanked him again and he just nodded. She waited until she couldn't see Stefan's car from her sight and slowly went to the house. When she walked in, her aunt was waiting for her.

"What happened? Why did you come late?"

"Sorry, Jenna. I had something to do."

"But how did you come home? By bus?"

"No, there's no more bus. A friend gave me a ride." Her face suddenly became red and Jenna saw it.

"Ah I think I know. Friend that gave you a ride was a boy, wasn't it?"

Elena felt her face was hot and more redden. She just nodded. And Jenna laughed all of sudden. "Oh my God, Elena! You're a big girl now! I still remember the times when I've always changed your diapers. Wait, is he hot?" she winked.

"Extremely hot, Jenna. You should see his face."

"Hmm.. It can be arranged." She was still laughing. Elena couldn't take her embarrass moments anymore. So she went upstairs and yelled, "Stop it, Jenna!" But it made Jenna laughed louder. She knew that Elena was embarrassed. She just shook her head but couldn't stop laughing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Damon hadn't come back yet. Their house was still dark. No lamps were on. Stefan sighed as he turned his car machine off. He realized that once Damon got married, he'd live by himself. So he had to get used to it. Then he got out of the car, walked into the house and turned the lamps on.

_ "Damon, Stefan! Don't play around in this house! You can break Mom's properties!"_

_ "Sorry, Dad but we're hyper! We can't stop playing!" Damon yelled and Stefan supported him by his laughed._

_ "If something bad happened, you two would be in a big problem!" Dad just shook his head. What did Mom eat during her Damon and Stefan pregnancies? They're so hyperactive. Suddenly, he heard something broken. Damon and Stefan gasped and didn't say anything until Dad came and cleaned their mess._

_ "You both are lucky Mom is out. Or you two will be eaten." Stefan was afraid because of his dad's words and began cry out loud. _

"_I don't want to be eaten! I don't want to be eaten!" He freaked out. And Dad was laughing. He didn't expect that Stefan would react like that._

_ "Hey, son. I was kidding. Your mom is not going to eat you. She's not going to eat anyone. What I really mean is the two of you have to be more careful since now." He caressed Stefan's back and hugged him. Damon stood there and still quiet. "Damon, if you want to cry, just let it out." And Dad's words really made Damon cry. He hugged both of his sons until they stopped. "There, there. I'm not going to tell your mom, but promise me to be more careful, okay? And if you want to play, use the backyard."_

_ "Yes, Dad. We're sorry."_

_ "That's okay. Now go. Do other things instead of breaking another Mom's properties."_

_ Both of his sons nodded and walked to their rooms._

"But you broke your promise, Dad. You said what happened to Mom eventually. But I still love you." Stefan said as he looked at his dad's photo. He put it back on the table and went upstairs to his room. He wanted to take a shower then go to sleep.

And again, Stefan felt cold. He opened his eyes and saw the same things as yesterday. Trees and snows. He stood and walked around. This time, he was closer to the silhouettes' place. And this time, he could see that the small silhouette was Elena's. Yes, she was definitely Elena. But the other silhouette? He couldn't recognize it. He saw his face but he didn't know him. He was a stranger.

"You should come back…"

Stefan heard the stranger's voice. Hell. He was really closer to them. He had to hide. But he was too curious. He just stood there and saw Elena's face. She didn't answer the guy's words. And Stefan didn't know whether sad, angry or disappointed face that she showed.

A few seconds later, he heard Elena spoke. "I can't. I'm sorry."

And suddenly Stefan woke up. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his clock on his night table. 3 AM. He groaned. "That was the second time. What the hell is going on with Elena and that guy? What does it mean to me?" He seriously had to find out.

**A/N : So what do you think? And please keep R&R! I'll try to update as soon as possible. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N : Sorry for the long update. I had a busy week on college. I hope you're not losing your curiousness about this story. More Stefan/Elena stories are coming!**

**Disclaimer : I don't own anything here. Well except for my fantasies. ;)**

6.30 AM. Elena turned off the alarm on her night stand and laid back on the mattress. She sighed heavily. She had something in her mind. Well, _someone_ was in her mind. She missed _him_. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to meet him. But soon she realized that it wouldn't happen. She would never meet him again. Because went back to America was her fault. She rubbed her forehead and took a deep breath.

"I shouldn't think about it anymore. It is what it is. You can get over it, Elena." she covered her face with her hands. "You'll have a better life here." she nodded and got ready for school.

"Good morning, beautiful." Jenna greeted as Elena made her steps downstairs to the kitchen.

"Good morning to you too, beloved auntie." she chuckled and kissed Jenna's cheek.

"You look pale today. Are you sick?" asked Jenna as she examined Elena's face.

"Am I?" Elena walked to pick a slice of bread and took a sip of her coffee.

"Uh-huh. By the way did you get something from _him_?"

"Who?" Elena looked at Jenna and suddenly she knew who she meant. She shook her head slowly no. Jenna understood and caressed Elena's shoulder. "It's okay though. I have to go. Good bye, Jenna. Have a nice day." she brought another slice of bread to her mouth, grabbed her bag from the couch and left the house.

Jenna was worried. She didn't mean to make Elena sad. But _that thing_ was irritated her as well. She wanted her niece to be happy. She wanted to help her. But she knew that it wasn't her place to do that. Secretly, she wished someone would do that for Elena. And didn't know why, she was sure that someone was already there.

At school…

Stefan was in front of his locker when someone suddenly asked,

"So you drove her home, didn't you?" Stefan turned his head to see who had spoken.

"Good morning to you too, Matt."

"I'm not kidding."

"Do I look like kidding you?" he closed his locker door and turned to face Matt. He just glared.

"What did you do, Stefan? You said that you didn't want to be a part of this game. But you just started a war with me. Why can't you just let me to have a chance? Why can't you just leave me alone with her? Why now, Stefan?"

"Are you done? Okay. First, yes, I drove her home last night. But it wasn't my plan. It wasn't my real move to get closer to her. She watched me practiced and it was already dark when I finished it. There was no more bus. Did you think that I would let a girl go home at the night by herself? And second, I didn't start a war with you. I didn't want to do that, Matt. I don't want our friendship breaks just because of a girl."

"Bullshit." He shook his head and crossed his arms.

"Whatever." Stefan was mad. He tried to explain carefully what actually happened but Matt didn't trust him. Then he left to the class. He was curious about Elena with the mysterious guy and Matt completely ruined his mood this morning.

Matt just stared at Stefan's back. "We'll see, Stefan. I'll get Elena's heart first." he promised and went to his locker.

As Stefan made his way to the class, he saw Elena was walking not too far in front of him. He slowed his steps. "What should I do now? Go after her?" He was doubt. But when he decided to talk to her, she already entered her class. And the bell rang. "Maybe next time." he told himself and went to his class.

The classes were boring actually. He didn't know why. Whether he really wanted to talk to Elena or his mood has been ruined by Matt. But finally the classes had finished and he waited for Elena in front of her class. One by one were out of the class but no Elena. He went inside and looked around. The class had empty. "Where's Elena?" He went out from the class and walked to cheerleaders' place. But it was empty too. "No practice today?" Suddenly he saw Caroline was walking near basket ring. He ran to her.

"Oh hey, Stefan." She greeted when he was close to her.

"Hey. Have you seen Elena?"

"Elena? Oh she's sick and went home earlier."

"Sick? How did she get home?"

"She got a fever. And Matt drove her home."

"Matt?"

"He saw Elena out from the class and knew she's sick. So he drove her home."

"Oh well, thank you, Caroline."

"Yup."

"Are you waiting for something or someone?"

"Uh no. Why?"

"I can drive you home."

"Ah no, thank you, Stefan. I can walk home by myself."

"Come on, Caroline. My house is not that far from yours."

She laughed and nodded. "OK, Mr. Perfecto."

"What?" he laughed too and shook his head.

"Forget it." she waved her hand walked beside him to his car.

"Elena is sick? What kind of sick? Is she alright now?" he thought while driving his car. "Maybe I should go visit her tonight."

"Stefan?" Caroline brought him back to his life.

"Yeah?" he looked at her and back to the road.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You seem… Are you thinking about something?"

"Eh? No."

"You sure?" Stefan smiled and nodded. A few minutes later, he dropped her in front of her house.

"Thank you, Stefan for your ride." she hopped out of the car and leaned to an opened window.

"You're welcome."

"Be careful." He nodded again and waved his hand as good bye. He drove as faster as he could. He wanted to reach home before the sky became too dark and went to Elena's house. But he doubted when he saw Bonnie's car in the driveway. Bonnie was his favorite girl. Not that type of favorite, but he already considered her as his own sister. She was so kind to him. And for the most important, she made Damon happy. He hopped out from the car and walked into the house. He smelled something delicious and followed it towards the kitchen. Bonnie was making lasagna and Damon helped her. Stefan cleared his throat.

"Oh hey, Stefan. Hungry?" asked Bonnie as she turned to look at him.

"Very." He laughed and took a seat at a chair.

"Wash your hand, baby bro." Damon said as he put the food.

"I'm not a kid anymore, D."

"Even though you're not a kid anymore, but you still have to keep your health."

"Fine." he stood and went to wash his hands. Bonnie chuckled. It was so fun to spend her times with her husband-to-be and his brother.

"Good evening, Boo." Stefan greeted and hugged her.

"Good evening, Steffy." She hugged him back.

"Is your lasagna ready?" he asked as he pulled back.

"Almost. Why?"

"I want to have an early dinner. I have to go to my friend's house."

"Do homework together?"

"No, she's sick and I want to visit her."

"Is she Elena?" Damon suddenly asked and smirked.

"Yeah, she is Elena."

"Who is Elena?" Bonnie looked at both Stefan and Damon.

"Stefan's girlfriend." Damon answered and winked at her. Bonnie laughed and tapped Stefan's shoulder playfully. Stefan blushed but shook his head.

"No, she's not. She is the new student in my school."

"Ah and you care about her."

"No, I don't."

"Don't lie to me, Stefan. If you don't care about her, you won't visit her tonight."

"Why not?"

"Because I wouldn't care about you if I just knew about you this morning." Bonnie explained and went to check her food. It's finished. Then she prepared it for dinner. Damon and Stefan sat on the bar chairs. Bonnie took a Tupperware and put 4 big slices of lasagna in it. Stefan saw that and raised an eyebrow,

"What's that for?"

"For you and Elena. Go to her house now. Before she has to sleep early." She handed that box.

Stefan nodded and smiled, "Thank you, Boo."

"Don't say that, Stefan." She smiled back and cut the other part of lasagna for Damon and herself. Stefan got up and went upstairs to change his clothes. When he was ready, he grabbed his car key and the Tupperware on the kitchen table.

"Alright. I'm going now. See you later or tomorrow, Bonnie, Damon. Thank you for the dinner."

"Are you gonna sleep at her house?" Damon's eyes went wide.

"Of course no, Damon. Geez."

Damon raised his hands and laughed. "I was kidding, baby bro."

"Be careful, Stefan. And say hello to Elena." Bonnie added and placed her arms around Damon's waist. Stefan just nodded and left the house. He was confusedly happy. Because he met Bonnie? Or because he was gonna go to Elena's house? Maybe both. He hopped in his car, turned the machine on and drove his car.

"Your fever is gone." Jenna said as she looked at the thermometer. Elena just smiled weakly. "Want some food for dinner?" Elena shook her head no. She lost her appetite. Jenna sighed. "Okay, if you need anything, just call me." She kissed her forehead and went downstairs.

Elena sat up a little on her bed and pulled her night stand drawer. She took an old photo of her and _him_. She stared at it and her eyes burst of tears. "I miss you. You have no idea how much I need you now." She said and hugged the photo. She needed _him_ for real. Suddenly Elena gasped when she heard someone knocked the door.

"It's Stefan. May I come in?"

Stefan? "Yeah, you can come in." she answered and put the photo back into the drawer but forgot to close it. Stefan already entered her room.

"Hey."

"Hey." Elena smiled a bit. She placed her pillow behind her back so she could sit comfortably.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah. Take a seat." She pointed to a chair near her. Stefan nodded. As Stefan walked to her, she asked, "How did you know that I'm sick?"

"Caroline. I was looking for you."

"Looking for me? Why?"

"Just wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

"Everything." Stefan grinned which made her grin too. "Matt drove you home?"

Elena nodded. "He didn't want me to say no. He kinda forced me. But I still appreciate it." Matt always tried so hard to get what he wanted. He was so ambitious.

"By the way, Jenna is so nice." He quickly changed the topic.

_Knock. Knock._

_ "Comin'!" Jenna yelled and opened the door. She was speechless when she saw someone in front of the door. "Yeah?"_

_ "Hey, I'm Stefan." He gave his hand and she shook it._

_ Jenna opened her mouth and asked, "Want to see Elena?"_

_ "Yes, Maam. Is she home?"_

_ "Please, call me Jenna. I'm her aunt. Yes, Elena is in her room. You can come in and go there."_

_ "Thank you, Jenna." She smiled and let Stefan in._

_ "Her room is in front of the stairs." She told him and he just nodded then went upstairs._

"She has a warm smile, you know." Elena laughed. "She is my best auntie." Stefan smiled. Not because of Jenna's smile, but because Elena was laughing. Her voice was so clear. Beautiful, he thought.

"Have dinner yet? I brought lasagna for you."

"Nope. I don't want to eat now. You made it by yourself?"

"But you have to eat, Elena. Then take your medicine. Uh no, my brother's girlfriend made it."

"You have a brother?"

"Yup. He's gonna married next month. And I'll be alone afterwards."

Elena raised her eyebrow. "No parents?"

"Died 7 years ago."

"Oh I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He shook his head but smiled.

They lost for words a little while. He just stared at her which made her blushed. She threw her eyes to another side of her room. Just in case to made her heart beat back to normal. She was nervous.

"Want to try some? She is an expert of cooking." Stefan suddenly asked and opened the Tupperware. It seriously had a very nice smell. And it made her hungry. She nodded. Stefan took a clean spoon on her night stand and accidentally looked at the photo in the opened drawer. His jaw was locked. Elena was with _him_ in that photo. The guy who was he saw in his dreams. The guy who was talking to Elena in his dreams. So the dreams were real?

"Stefan?" Elena called and looked at him. He turned his face to see her. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Here, take a bite." He handed the spoon. She nodded and began to eat. Stefan watched her but he also thought about the photo and his dreams. "My dreams were real? Is he her boyfriend? Is he something important for her?"

"Have your dinner already, Stefan?" she ruined his thoughts. He shook his head and Elena's eyes went wide. "You're the one who forced me to eat whereas you haven't your dinner yet."

Stefan chuckled. "You're sick, Elena. And I'm not. That makes me have to force you to eat." Elena felt her heart warmer. She didn't expect that Stefan would be that kind to her.

"At least you still have to eat something. Here." She shared a slice of lasagna and gave to him. Stefan opened his mouth and let the food in. "You're right. It's delicious." Elena commented as she ate another slice.

"My motto is never lie to people." He winked and smiled playfully. And honestly, his heart did beat faster because of the 'shared moment.'

"Ooh nice motto." She laughed. Stefan stayed quiet because he wanted to hear her laugh. But he also wanted to ask about the photo. Who was the guy for her. But he thought that he wanted to get more proofs about the guy by himself. Even though he was deadly curious.

"OK, it's time to take your medicine."

"Trying to become a doctor, Mr. Salvatore?"

Stefan laughed. "Maybe. Where's your medicine?"

"There." She pointed a box on her desk. Stefan stood and took it. He opened the box as he walked. She had a lot of medicines. Maybe she wanted to prepare everything before something happened, he assumed. He handed the box and asked,

"Are those all of your medicines?"

"Yeah. It's a lot, isn't it?" she smiled.

"But you don't have a serious ill, do you?" It took a few seconds for Elena to answer it. Then she shook her head. Stefan held her hand, "I'm sure you don't. Take your medicine now."

"Okay, Doc." She winked and took all of her medicines.

"Alright. Since you've taken all of your medicines, I have to go home now." Stefan said as he stood. "Good night, Elena. See you tomorrow at school." Elena nodded and smiled.

"Thank you for coming, Stefan. And for the lasagna."

Stefan laughed. "Oh I forgot. Bonnie said hello to you."

"Bonnie?"

"My brother's girlfriend."

"Oh. Say hello to her back."

"I will. Good night."

"Good night." She watched Stefan went out of her room and closed the door. She was happy Stefan visited her. He made her forget about something. About someone. And it felt really good for her. Then she turned the lamp off and went to sleep.

_"But you don't have a serious ill, do you?"_

"Why she didn't answer me literally? Why did she just stay quiet?" Stefan thought as he drove his car to his home. When he reached home, Bonnie was still there. She and Damon were watching a movie in the living room.

"Elena said hello to you, Boo." Stefan told her as he walked towards them. Bonnie looked at him and smiled.

"How's she?"

"Better. Her fever has gone." he looked relief. After a while, "Okay, good night, you two." he said as he went towards the stairs.

"Not interested to join us here?" Bonnie asked.

"Nope. Next time, Bonnie." he answered and walked upstairs.

"Alright. Good night, Steffy!" she yelled and heard he closed the door.

Stefan was tired. But he couldn't stop thinking about his dreams. About that photo. Who was the guy, what was him for Elena. He laid on his mattress and placed his arms below his head. "I'll try to get to know tomorrow." he said and closed his eyes.

"Seperti yang sudah aku katakan. Kamu seharusnya kembali ke sini. I can take care of you, Elena."

"Aku tidak bisa kembali ke Indonesia. This is my home and you know that. And you shouldn't be worried. I can take care of myself."

Stefan heard their conversation once again. But he didn't understand their first sentences. But he heard Elena said Indonesia. Did they speak Indonesian at first?

"Elena, come to Indonesia. Come back to me."

Came back to him?

"I can't."

This time, Stefan walked closer to them but they became blurry. Then everything went black.

**A/N : So how's it? Do you think that it's too soon for Stefan to get closer to Elena? Please let me know what do you think about this chapter. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N : Thank you for the reviews! It makes me truly happy. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Thank you very much!**

**Disclaimer : I only own my fantasies.**

Stefan gasped and sat on his bed. "That's just a dream. That's just a dream." he calmed himself and wiped sweats on his forehead. As his breaths became normal, he looked at his clock. 5.10 AM. It's too early to wake up. But he was afraid to go back to sleep. He was afraid that he could have the same dream again. So he went to his bathroom and washed his face instead. He couldn't stop wondering why he dreamed that. He didn't want it to happen. For everything's sake, he didn't want it.

He walked back to his bed and sat at the edge of it. First thing that came to his mind was Elena. And her medicine box. He still didn't believe that she drank all of it. It made him more curious yet panic. "Does she have a serious ill? If she doesn't, she won't drink a lot of medicines. She can only drink Paracetamol or Aspirin." He shook his head. "No, maybe she wants to prevent another disease." But it came unfinished on his mind. Because he remembered the guy in his dreams. The guy on Elena's photo. They were the same person. He wanted Elena to come back to him. Come back to Indonesia. Was he Elena's boyfriend? And he could take care of her? What did he mean with take care?

He had so many things on his mind. Elena. Her medicines. That guy. _Matt_. He had to find the way to solve them all. He'd start with Elena. He couldn't stay calm about her. He didn't know why but he was sure that he had to help her. He had to always be there for her. And he promised himself to do that. He looked at his clock once again. 6.10 AM. Finally he grabbed his towel and got ready for school.

**Elena's bedroom…**

"Feeling better, honey?" Jenna asked as she placed her hand on Elena's forehead to check her temperature manually.

"Yep. I'm gonna take a bath and go to school." she hopped out of her bed and went to bathroom.

"You sure? How if you get fever again?"

"I feel completely healthy, Jenna. Don't worry." she turned to face Jenna and smiled. Jenna nodded and went out of her bedroom.

Elena took a quick shower. She wanted to go to school as soon as she could. Honestly, she wanted to meet Stefan. She planned to find out more about him. She could ask himself. Or Caroline. Or even Matt. She shook her head as she imagined Matt. She'd feel uncomfortable if she asked about Stefan to him. Caroline was better. When she was ready for school, she went downstairs to have breakfast.

"Did you eat last night?"

"Uh-huh." she poured a bottle of milk to her glass.

"What did you eat?"

"Lasagna, Stefan brought it."

"Stefan, eh?" Jenna smiled playfully. "You're right, Elena. He's gorgeous."

Elena blushed and nodded. "I told you."

"He made lasagna by himself?" Jenna asked again as she watched Elena took a seat.

"No, his brother's girlfriend made it."

"Ah. I thought he could cook."

"So did I." she laughed and ate her omelette.

"You seem happy." Jenna told Elena and took a seat in front of her.

"Isn't it good?"

"Of course it's good. I think Stefan is a part of your happiness reasons."

Elena's face redden again and Jenna laughed. "I'm always right."

"You're scary, auntie." Jenna still laughed then took a sip of her tea.

10 minutes later, Elena went to school. Jenna was happy to see her niece happy. Her feeling said that Stefan actually was the big part of _it_. And again, she was sure that she was right.

**At school…**

"Drove her home, huh?"

"You're jealous, Stefan?" Matt smiled winningly.

"Jealous? Uh no. Because I spent the night with her. In her bedroom. Oh until she was ready to sleep." he said calmly. Matt's jaw locked. "Don't worry, I didn't do anything with her." he tapped Matt's shoulder and left him alone. Matt couldn't hide his anger from his face.

"You bastard, Stefan!" he yelled but Stefan didn't buy it. Matt didn't know that Stefan was hurt when he heard that. He didn't want to be a traitor to Matt. But he couldn't deny his feeling for Elena anymore. And this time, he wanted to be sportive. Stefan would do anything for Elena. But if she didn't want him, he'd back off and let Matt enjoy his chances.

"Good morning." he heard someone greeted and turned around.

"Katherine." he greeted back with an icy tone.

"I missed you, dear." she hugged him tightly. Stefan released himself from her arms.

"Don't call me dear. It's over, Katherine."

She pouted. "Since when we're over?"

"Since you slept with James." he answered and continued his steps to his class.

"I was drunk!"

"It still counted."

"No, it didn't."

"Whatever. Just take the fact that we're over. Can you?"

"No." she lingered her arms to Stefan's. Stefan knew that she wouldn't let him go. So he let Katherine arms there but still tried to resist her. They kept walking but didn't realize that someone was staring at them.

"Who is she?" she asked to Matt. Then he followed her eyes.

"Katherine. Stefan's ex."

"I've never seen her before."

"She's just back from France."

"France? What did she do?"

"I don't know. Had a vacation maybe. Her parents are rich though. She can do whatever she wants." Matt looked at her who was still staring at Stefan and Katherine. He knew that she was jealous. He could see from her eyes. And it hurt him. Like, really, it _hurt_ him. "Elena?"

Elena turned her face to Matt. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"Uh yes. Why?"

"Nothing. Want me to accompany you to your class?"

"No thanks, Matt. I'll find Caroline first."

"Okay. See you later."

Elena smiled and went to cheerleaders' place to see her boss. Caroline was concentrate on her notes when she walked in. Then Elena sat near her.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh morning, Elena. I'm making new moves for us." Elena nodded and looked at her papers.

"Care, may I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Who is Katherine?"

"You met her?" Caroline's eyes went wide and looked at Elena.

"Not officially. I saw her with Stefan a few minutes ago."

Caroline sighed heavily. "That bitch."

"What?"

"She's Stefan's ex-girlfriend. Last year Stefan caught her slept with one of football players. And they literally broke up. But she didn't give up. She still wants Stefan until now."

Elena listened carefully. And deep in her heart, she was afraid. Her heart broke a little because Katherine wouldn't give up on Stefan. And what if Stefan still loved her?

"Are you okay, Elena?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. We, uh, have to go to the class, Care. The bell will ring in 5 minutes." Caroline looked at her watch and nodded.

"I still have to clean this mess. I'll be right behind you."

"Okay then. See you." Caroline smiled and collected her papers as Elena walked towards the door.

**Lunch time…**

"Feeling better, Elena?" she gasped and turned around to see the voice's owner. Her face was really close to Stefan's. She could feel his warm breaths at her lips.

"Yeah, I feel better." she smiled and so did Stefan.

"Good. What do you want to eat now? But can you please a bit hurry? There are still many people who want to buy foods behind us." he whispered to her ear.

Elena was embarrassed and nodded. She bought a yoghurt and mineral water. Stefan raised his eyebrow, "Just that?"

"What else? I don't want to eat anything."

Stefan shook his head but he couldn't force her. He was afraid that she would mad at him if he did that. Then he chose a burger but still thinking what was he gonna have for drink.

"You know, soft drink is not a good combination for junk food." Elena said when she saw Stefan picked a Coke. He turned to see her and smiled. "I guess you're right. I'll buy this then." he took a bottle of orange juice and paid them. After that, they walked together towards an empty table.

"Do you mind if I join you, Elena?" he asked politely.

"Of course not. I'm alone by the way." Then Stefan sat in front of her.

As they ate, Stefan asked her.

"Where do you come from, Elena?"

"Indonesia." Her answer made Stefan froze a little while. "Stefan?"

He blinked. "Sorry. How long have you been there?"

"10 years. Because of my parents' job."

"I see. You said that you're parents died a few years ago."

"Uh-huh. So?"

"Then where're your parents' graves? Here?"

Elena shook her head no. "No, they're still in Indonesia." Stefan only nodded.

"Any siblings?"

"One young brother, still in there too. Why?"

"Just ask. Um, sorry but…"

"Hey honey!" suddenly Katherine appeared and hugged his neck from behind. Elena was shocked. She was too focused on Stefan so she didn't realize that Katherine was coming. Stefan gripped her arms and released his neck from them.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm the one who supposed to ask, what are _you _doing here? And who is she?" her eyes were on Elena's. She seemed wanted to eat Elena alive.

"Don't you see that _we _are having our lunch and _you_'re ruining us?" Stefan asked back sarcastically.

"Ouch. Maybe that's because I missed you, Stefan." she kissed Stefan's cheek before he could stop her. Elena's eyes went wide and suddenly she felt want to puke. Stefan saw her face became pale. He stood and grabbed Elena's wrist.

"Let's go out of here. You need to breathe." Elena just nodded and let Stefan brought her out of the cafeteria. Katherine yelled something at both of them. But Stefan kept walking so she couldn't hear it clearly.

"I'm sorry about Katherine." Stefan said as they sat on a long wood-chair near parking lot.

Elena shook her head. "No, no, no. You don't need to apologize. She is your ex, anyways."

Stefan looked surprised. "How did you know that she's my ex?"

"Um I asked Matt and Caroline this morning. I've never seen her before. I was curious and I saw that she was so close to you."

Stefan looked at Elena's eyes directly. He couldn't explain what exactly he felt. Afraid, confused or even happy because Elena seemed jealous. Or it was just his wish?

"I warn you, Elena. Don't ever believe what she says to you. I know that you haven't known her yet. But if she said something to you, would you please tell me? Maybe I can help you to clarify it out. I'm afraid that she'd tell you bad things."

She just nodded and leaned back against the chair. She wanted to relax a bit.

"How are you doing?"

"Better." she closed her eyes and took a deep breath then let it out. Stefan followed her position to become more relax as well. He threw his eyes to the gray sky. Elena opened her eyes and looked at Stefan.

"Rain is one of my favorite things." he said suddenly. "I love the smell of it. The smell of the wet land after rain fell and touched it. It always makes me fresh."

"We have the same things." she told him. He turned his face to see her. "Rain and wet land smell. Those are my favorites too." she smiled happily just like a child who got a precious toy. Stefan smiled too and felt his heart beat faster. No, he felt his heart almost out of his chest.

"That's good to hear." he looked back at the sky and closed his eyes. He enjoyed the cold winds. Elena still looked at him. She was mesmerized by his words. Ah no. She was mesmerized by everything about him. His manners, his face, his words. He's always been careful with her. Never hurt her.

"Stefan? The last class almost starts. Want to go inside now?" he opened his eyes and took his phone from his jeans. He handed it to her.

"Save your number in it so I can always catch you up." Elena nodded and saved her number in his contacts. After that she gave it back to him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. So, are we gonna go inside?" she asked once again and he nodded. Then they entered school together.

**Cheerleaders' room; 3.15 PM…**

"So you're Elena, aren't you?"

"Yes, Katherine."

"Am I that famous? You already knew my name." she smiled proudly. Elena just shrugged. She wanted to start the practice as soon as she could. The team was already at the field. But Katherine blocked her way. "I just want to warn you. Stefan is mine. You can't have him. Nobody can. You have to stay away from him. Understand?"

"What if I don't want to? Or he also doesn't want me to avoid him?" Elena crossed her arms over her chest. Katherine glared at her. She was mad. Then she pulled Elena's hair and pushed her body against the locker.

"Listen carefully, Princess. Stefan _is _mine. If you still don't want to hear my words, I'll hurt you. Or I'll hurt Stefan too. Got it?"

Elena stayed quiet.

"You got it, bitch?" Katherine yelled and pulled Elena's hair tighter. Elena just nodded. Her head was spinning. But she held it. Katherine released her and walked towards the door. Elena rubbed her forehead and realized that tears fell down onto her cheeks. She wiped it quickly and went to the field.

"Hey sorry, I'm late." Elena reported as she got closer to Caroline.

"Where were you?"

"Something happened." Caroline's eyes went wide as she noticed Elena's eyes were red.

"Elena, tell me what did actually happen." she begged as she pulled her away from their friends. Elena shook her head. "Did Katherine do something to you?" Elena hesitated and shook her head again. But Caroline got her. "I'm sure it's about Katherine. Tell me what she did to you, Elena." Elena shook her head stubbornly. Caroline sighed and gave up. "Fine. But if you want to tell me about it, just do it. Okay?" Elena nodded and mouthed thank you to her. Then they went back to the team.

Elena's head was still spinning so hard when she practiced. And it became worst as she did the pyramid formation. She was at the very top of it. When she looked down near the team, Stefan was there staring and smiled at her. She wanted to smile back but she remembered what Katherine said to her.

_"If you still don't want to hear my words, I'll hurt you. Or I'll hurt Stefan too. Got it?"_

She felt weak and almost fell. Then suddenly her nose was bleeding. Stefan, who was standing not too far from her, saw it and realized that something bad was happening. He ran and caught her before she hit the land. Her friends were screaming her name. Caroline was frozen. And Matt was jealous when he saw the heroic scene from the school park. Elena's face was truly pale then opened her eyes slowly. She saw Stefan's worried face and said thank you weakly. Then she fainted.

"Call 911!"

**A/N : I don't know if it's called cliffhanger or not. But happy curious! :P**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N : Please tell me if you have some critics or suggestions. :)**

"Call 911!" One of cheerleaders shouted. She ran to Caroline and shook her shoulders. "Caroline, we have to call 911!" she was hysteric.

"I already called them." Matt answered as he walked to Caroline. He saw her body was shaking then he placed his arms around her to comfort her. "She's going to be okay." he convinced her and let her hugged him tightly.

Stefan couldn't say anything. He was truly afraid. Panic. Speechless. He was still holding Elena as he sat down and placed her head on his lap. He couldn't believe what just happened. A few minutes ago Elena was still standing by her own feet. She was energetic as always. Even though he knew that her face was pale since the practice started. He looked at her closed eyes and suddenly thought, "What if she wouldn't open her eyes anymore?" He literally shook his head. "No, she's going to be okay. She will open her eyes soon." he caressed her cheeks and wiped the blood from her nose with his handkerchief. "You have to wake up, Elena." he whispered.

Not too long, he heard the ambulance came. Paramedic hopped out from it and ran towards Stefan as he waved his hand. They brought Elena in a stretcher to ambulance. Stefan got in there too. He wanted to accompany her. Matt and Caroline decided to follow them behind with Matt's car. Then they went to the hospital.

**At the hospital…**

Elena was still in the emergency room when Jenna came. She saw him sat near the door and ran towards him.

"Stefan, where is Elena? How is she?" he saw more tears fell onto her cheeks.

"She's still in the emergency room. The doctor hadn't finished yet. We still have to wait." he stood and pulled her to a chair. "Sit down, Jenna." she only nodded and took a seat.

They heard the emergency room door opened and saw the doctor went out. Both Stefan and Jenna stood. Matt and Caroline ran a bit towards them.

"Gilbert's family?"

"I'm her aunt. How is she?"

"She's already wake up. She has no trauma at all."

"But why her nose was bleeding, Doc?" Matt asked. Jenna literally looked at him, shocked.

"I think that's because she's too tired. Can I talk to you for a little while?" he asked Jenna and she nodded. The doctor walked to his room and she followed. Stefan looked at Caroline and then Matt. He didn't know what to say. He was relief, yes. But he didn't know why but he was still afraid.

"I'm gonna check on her." Caroline said and both of boys nodded. She went to the emergency room and walked in.

Stefan sat down again and leaned back in his chair. He sighed heavily.

"What a day, huh?" Matt tried to build a conversation. But Stefan didn't answer it. He was waiting for Matt to continue. "I have to admit it. If you weren't there, Elena would be in a more danger situation."

"I know." Stefan agreed.

"But I won't give up, Stefan. I'll always try to get Elena. Don't think that it's over." Stefan could see Matt's eyes were burning.

"Then don't." he answered it. Stefan knew Matt would never give up on everything he wanted.

"I'll go to see her." Matt stood and walked into the emergency room. Stefan just looked at him. He let another sigh out from his mouth. A few minutes later, Jenna walked back towards the emergency room. He stood and asked her,

"What did the doctor say?"

"Elena has to stay here tonight. Doctor said that he needs to check her blood tomorrow morning." Stefan nodded. "I'll go to the administration to set everything up." he nodded again and back to his seat. Then Caroline and Matt out of the room.

"We have to go back, Stefan. Is that okay?" Caroline said.

"Yeah. It's okay. I'll stay here until her aunt come back from the administration."

"What is she doing there?"

"Elena has to stay here tonight."

"I thought that she can come home by now."

Stefan shrugged. "The doctor said so to her aunt." He looked at Matt's eyes. He clearly didn't like what Stefan just said. He didn't like the fact that Elena had to stay. He didn't like the fact that _Stefan_ would stay here either. But today wasn't his chance. It's Stefan's and he had to respect that.

"Okay. If you need anything, just let us know, Stefan." Caroline told him and he answered it with his little smile. Then they left Stefan alone. He wanted to go to the emergency room to see Elena. To see her face. Her smile. But he was doubt. He was remembering back the incident went she fell. After a while, he couldn't take it any longer then decided to see Elena.

**In Matt's car…**

"I hope Elena will get better soon."

"She will. Don't worry." Caroline looked at Matt. She knew that he answered her. But part of her heart understood that he was talking to himself as well. He was calming himself.

"Can I ask you something, Matt?" she asked as she turned her face to see the road in front of her.

"Shoot."

"Are you falling in love with Elena?"

Matt gulped. It was strange to say the truth. Caroline's his ex-girlfriend, anyways. But he knew Caroline. She could know the truth, even though he didn't tell her. Lie to her would never work. He nodded slowly. "I think so."

His answer was enough to break her heart. Was enough to make her eyes burst into tears. She stayed quiet. And Matt did too. Because he didn't want to make it worse.

**In the emergency room…**

Stefan walked in slowly and saw Elena laid on the bed. Her face was still pale but he knew that she was better. She heard someone's steps getting closer to her then turned her face.

"Oh hey, Stefan." she smiled weakly.

"Hey." he greeted back as he sat on the edge of her bed. "Feeling better?"

"It'll be better if I can go home now."

Stefan chuckled and shook his head. "Too bad that you have to stay here tonight."

"WHAT?" she yelled spontaneously. "I always hate hospitals and now I'm grounded here." She frowned.

"Just for a night, Elena."

"But still…" her words were cut as Jenna walked towards them. Stefan stood and moved to Elena's side. "I have to stay here, Jenna?" Elena asked.

"Yeah and I just finished the administration." then 3 nurses came.

"Miss Gilbert? We will take you to your room now." a nurse named Sue said to her. She just nodded and hopped out of the bed carefully and sat on a wheelchair. Stefan and Jenna followed them.

Once they reached Elena's room, the nurses helped her to change her clothes to patient clothe. Stefan was waiting outside and texted Damon,

_I'm at the hospital. I didn't drive my own car. It's still at the school. Can you please pick me up in an hour?_

Damon didn't take a long time to replied,

_What are you doing there? Okay, I'll pick you up._

Stefan replied again,

_Something happened to Elena. Thanks, D. Call me when you get here._

When he locked his phone, the nurses went out of the room. He looked inside and thought it was safe to walk in.

"I have to go home and pick your clothes, Elena. Will you be okay if I go home for a little while?"

"I'll accompany her until you come back, Jenna." Stefan said. She looked at him and smiled.

"Thank you, Stefan. See you later, Sweetie." she said as she kissed Elena's forehead and walked towards the door.

Elena sighed and looked at her right hand. The doctor infused her. "You know, I don't need an infuse. I'm feeling better."

"Your nose was bleeding, Elena. Doctor had thought that you're too tired and maybe he's afraid that you have dehydration now." he sat on her bed. Elena looked at him seriously. "What?" he asked.

"Maybe someday you would be a good doctor, Stefan."

He chuckled. "That's what I want."

"You want to be a doctor?"

"Yep."

"That's good to hear. You can take care of me then." Elena quickly closed her mouth. Stefan was confused. 'Take care of her?' he raised his eyebrow. "Forget it." she said and threw her eyes to another side of her room.

"I would be honored to take care of you, Miss Gilbert." Stefan smiled and caressed her fingers. She turned her face and saw him. Her heart was beating faster. But suddenly she remembered Katherine's words again. It hurt her. Stefan knew that she was different. So he asked,

"What?"

Elena shook her head. "I was too shocked to hear that."

"That I would take care of you?" she nodded. Stefan smiled a little.

"Don't worry, I'll try my best." he winked.

"Not like that."

"But?"

"No buts. We'll see in the future then."

"Sounds like a plan." Both smiled.

"By the way, how did Jenna know?" she asked curiously.

"You saved 2 numbers in my phone."

"I did? I don't remember that." Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Thanks to you. I called the first number then thought that it's yours because no one answered it. Then I tried the second number and Jenna picked it up."

Elena sighed heavily. "I feel bad. I made her panic."

"It's not your fault though. Well, a little. You shouldn't have practiced if you're sick."

"I was fine."

"Don't lie to me, Elena. I saw your face was pale since your practice started." Elena blinked a few times. She didn't believe that Stefan cared about her that much. She looked at the other side of her room again. Stefan sighed and stood. "Do you mind if I go downstairs to buy coffee?"

"Of course no. Take your time." she looked at him again.

"I won't be long." he promised and went towards the door. She sighed again and was looking for the TV remote. Suddenly she heard someone came.

"Well, well." Elena looked at the door and found Katherine there. "I told you to stay away from him."

"I tried."

"Lie." Katherine crossed her arms and leaned her body against the door.

"Whatever."

"You know, Elena. I can do everything I want since you're sick and laying here." she tortured as she walked into the room. Elena's mind warned her to be careful. She moved a little on her bed. "Are you scared?" Katherine smiled evilly as she looked at Elena's worried face.

Elena just glared at her. "You followed me till here?"

"I didn't follow you, silly. I followed Stefan. Oh and I wanted to see how much you took my words. But it's a disappointment that you didn't." her hand went to her infuse. Elena was afraid that Katherine planned to pull it from her hand.

"And what were your words about?" Stefan's voice ruined Katherine's 'play' time with Elena. He had heard enough.

She gasped a little and turned around to look at him. "Oh hi, honey. I saw you got into the ambulance with Elena and I was curious. I was afraid that something bad was happening on her or even you. And kaboom. I followed you."

"You know what, Katherine? I don't believe you. You can go now. Thank you for accompany Elena when I went." he said as he walked towards her and blocked her way to Elena's bed. His voice was cold. But Elena was secretly relief.

"Whatever. But you have to take me home, Stefan. I came here by myself." she pouted.

"Can't. And I don't want to."

"Why? Because you're afraid that we will have sex once we reach my home?"

Stefan glared at her. Her words irritated him so much. She raised her hands and laughed seductively. "Fine. I'll go home by myself then. See you tomorrow, honey." she grabbed his face but Stefan stopped her.

"Just go. Now." Katherine let her hands go and mad.

"You're rude, Stefan. I can't believe that you've changed now."

"Go!"

"Fine!" she backed off and went towards the door. Suddenly she stopped and turned back to face both of Stefan and Elena. "Just remember, Stefan. I still want you. And I won't give up. And you, Elena. Bye-bye." she smiled half-heartedly and left the room.

Stefan sighed and turned to see Elena. "You okay?"

Elena just nodded. She was still shocked yet relief that Stefan came in the right time.

"I'll get you some water." he wanted to go to the table but suddenly Elena grabbed his hand to stop him. Even though she didn't look at him, but he knew that she was kinda afraid of what just happened with her and Katherine. He pulled a chair near him, sat there and held Elena's hand. He didn't need to ask what Elena felt. "It's okay. I got you." His position didn't change until she fell asleep.

15 minutes later, Jenna came. She saw that Stefan held Elena's hand. She didn't mad or anything instead she was happy to see it. She was sure that Stefan was a good person. She walked in and tapped Stefan's shoulder.

"She's just asleep." Stefan said as he released Elena's hand.

Jenna nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Stefan."

"No problem." he answered as he stood and helped Jenna put Elena's things into the drawer. "You were from school?" he asked as he saw Jenna put Elena's phone on the table.

"No. Matt brought it home."

"Oh." Stefan smiled a little. He couldn't deny that he was jealous. Heck. He was _seriously_ jealous.

"Have you eaten something, Stefan?" Jenna asked as she sat on a chair near Elena's bed. Stefan shook his head. "You should eat something."

"Don't worry, I'll eat when I get home."

"Alright. Uh if you want to go home now, you can use my car." Jenna offered.

"No, thank you. My brother will pick me up."

"Okay then." Stefan smiled at her and his phone vibrated. Damon called. He went outside and answered,

"I'll be down in a minute." then he ended the call. He went inside again.

"Your brother is already here?"

"Yeah. I'll go home now. See you next time, Jenna."

"Thanks for everything, Stefan." he just smiled then went out of the room. Jenna watched him walked then looked back at Elena. "Poor you, little girl." she said as she caressed her cheek. "But you're lucky that Stefan was here with you." she pulled Elena's blanket a little more and placed them on Elena's shoulder.

**In Damon's car…**

"Is Elena okay?" Damon asked as Stefan wore his seat belt.

"Yeah, she's okay."

"What happened?" he asked again while they're leaving the hospital.

"I didn't know what exactly happened. She was pale and got bleeding on her nose when she practiced."

"What practice?"

"Cheerleader."

"She's a cheerleader? Oh wait, her nose was bleeding? It sounds dangerous." Stefan just shrugged. Damon smiled at him. "Don't worry, Steffy. At least, she's okay now."

"I'm not worried about that."

"Then what?"

Stefan sighed heavily. "Katherine showed up at the hospital and tortured Elena." Damon was completely shocked and literally looked at Stefan.

"You're kidding." he said disbelief.

"Unfortunately no. I saw her. For the worst part, she said that she still wants me and will never give up." he rubbed his forehead. Damon had empathy for his brother.

"You know Katherine. She will get over it when she's bored."

"I hope so."

"So you want to take your car first?" Damon changed the subject.

"Yeah."

"Okay then." Damon drove his car to Stefan's school. After he dropped Stefan, he went to Uncle Dean's place to check his wedding list.

"Don't wait for me, Stef. I won't go home tonight." Damon said before he left Stefan.

He nodded. "Thank you, D." he watched Damon went out of the school. After that he walked to the parking lot and drove to his home.

Once he reached his home, he took a quick shower and ordered Chinese food for dinner. As he ate, Elena never left his mind. Even though he knew that she was better, but he was still afraid. And suddenly he remembered when Elena said something.

_"That's good to hear. You can take care of me then."_

The stranger guy wanted Elena to come back to Indonesia so he could take care of her. But she said (or wanted) Stefan to take care of her instead. Did it mean that she had a serious ill? Or it was just because she trusted him? Or even… falling in love with him?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N : I didn't mean to make you hate Katherine honestly. But I thought the only one who can be so bitchy is her haha. And thank you very much for the reviews! That means a lot. :)**

"Good morning, honey." Jenna greeted as she saw Elena opened her eyes. Elena looked around, remembering where she was.

"Good morning, Jenna. Uh can I go home now?"

Jenna laughed a little. "You're so impatient. The doctor will check your blood first. If everything is okay, you can get out of here by this afternoon."

"It's still too long."

"It's your own fault. You knew you're sick but forced yourself to practiced." her words made Elena sad. She literally regretted it. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" she said as she caressed Elena's cheek.

"No, you're right. I shouldn't have forced myself. I'm sorry, Jenna."

"It's okay. Just promise me that you'll never do that again. If you're sick, tell your friends that you can't practice."

Elena nodded and smiled weakly. "What time is it?"

Jenna looked at the clock on the wall. "8 AM."

"I hate skipping school." Elena sighed.

"You hate skipping_ school _or_ Stefan_?" Jenna teased, looking back at her. Elena's cheeks redden.

"Skipping_ school_." Elena pressed her tone when she answered.

"Lie." Jenna winked. "You can't lie to me, Elena. You just hate to _skip on meeting Stefan_." she pinched Elena's nose playfully. Elena's face became more red and finally nodded.

"Okay. Because of that. _Too_." Jenna laughed so hard then shook her head. Her niece was so unbelievable. She was still in denial that she started to fall for Stefan.

"I still believe that Stefan is your biggest reason." she pinched Elena's cheeks and stood. "I will buy something for breakfast. Want something?" Elena shook her head. She didn't want anything. She wanted _someone_ was here with her. But she wasn't sure who she wanted. She watched Jenna out of the room and looked at clock. 8.06 AM. She was gonna be bored for the whole day.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**At the boarding house…**

Stefan was awake. But his head was heavy, his body was weak. His eyes were wet because of tears, but he didn't cry. He felt cold and shivering hard. Then he placed his hand on his forehead and neck. _Hot_.

"Damn!" he sat on his bed carefully and took a thermometer in his night stand drawer. He placed it on his armpit. When it sounded bip 3 times, he took it and saw the result. 38.7° C. He definitely got a fever. Then he grabbed a glass of water and drank all of it. After that he decided to sleep again, hoping that he'll get better soon.

30 minutes later…

Bonnie arrived at the boarding house. She had an appointment with Damon and wanted to wait for him at his house. She furrowed her eyebrows when she saw Stefan's car parked in the driveway. "Doesn't he have school?" she hopped out of the car and walked into the house with reserved key which given by Damon. She literally went to Stefan's room. She knocked his door but no answer. Then she opened it. Luckily, he didn't lock it. She looked in and saw Stefan was sleeping. She went towards him and woke him up.

"Stefan." he didn't move. "Stefan, wake up." she tried again and Stefan groaned. "Don't you have school?"

"It's cold." he murmured and crossed his arms over his chest to keep him warm.

"Cold? Come on, Stefan. Wake up and get ready for school." she shook his body. She stopped when she felt his body was so hot. Then she placed her hand on his forehead. "Oh my God. You're sick." she finally found out.

"Uh-huh." he tightened his crossed arms.

"How's your temperature?"

"38.7° C."

"It's high." she said to herself and ran downstairs to picked a little towel and warm water in a bowl. She went back to Stefan's room and kneeled over the bed to compress him. "Why you didn't call me? I could've come here earlier." she asked as she placed the warm towel on his forehead.

"I thought I'd be better by myself." he answered, his eyes were still closed.

"What are you talking about? You just sleep, Stefan. That's not gonna help." Stefan opened his eyes and smiled weakly.

"Thank you, Bonnie. Did Damon know?"

"Yeah, I texted him." Stefan nodded and mouthed thank you again.

"Alright you can go back to sleep. I'll make some food for you." Bonnie said as she stood and went downstairs. Stefan let his eyes closed and fell into the deep sleep.

**At the hospital; 11 AM…**

"So, how's my blood test?" Elena asked as Jenna walked into her room.

"Not yet. The lab worker said that it'd be done at 12.00 PM."

"Why do they take so long? It's been 2 hours." Elena pouted. "And now, I'll be even more bored."

"Be patient, honey." Jenna's phone vibrated and she looked at it. Her manager called. "I'll be back." and she went outside. Elena sighed and checked her phone. 1 missed call. She opened it but didn't know whose number it was. Then she remembered Stefan said that he called her when he wanted to call Jenna at first. She wanted to hear his voice in all of sudden. But she doubted. She was afraid that she would disturb him as it's still school time. She was still holding her phone as Jenna walked in. Elena turned to look at her.

"I.. uh.."

"That's okay, Jenna. You can't sacrifice your work just because of me. Go to work."

"How about you?"

"I can handle myself. Don't worry." she winked. Jenna smiled at her and grabbed her bag near Elena's bed.

"See you at home, Sweetie." she said and kissed Elena's cheek. Elena watched Jenna out of the room and turned the TV on. What else she could do?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**At school; lunch time…**

Caroline and her cheerleader friends were eating at the cafeteria when Matt walked in. He was looking for someone. Caroline looked at him but quickly turned her face when Matt capturing her gaze. She remembered Matt's answer about Elena. He knew that she was avoiding his eyes and it irritated him. But then he walked towards her.

"Hey, Care. Have you seen Stefan?" Matt literally asked as soon as he reached her table.

Without looked at him she answered, "Nope."

"Since the morning?"

"Yep." then she stood. "Excuse me, I have to go now. Bye gals. _Matt._" and she quickly went out of the cafeteria. Matt didn't say anything. He just looked at Caroline's back. He was thinking about Stefan. He was curious why he did not come to school today. And suddenly Elena came to his mind.

"Does he go to hospital just to meet Elena? If he does, he doesn't fair then. Huh. Nice trick, Stefan." He thought negatively. He wanted to call or text him. But it was late. He was already mad.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**At the boarding house…**

"What happened to you, baby bro?" Damon asked as Stefan sat on his bed and ate his slurry. Bonnie followed him behind.

"I don't know. Too tired maybe." Stefan answered Damon as he turned to see him. Damon smirked and leaned against the door.

"Too tired of waiting for Elena or what?" Stefan glared. Bonnie couldn't hold her laughter. "I'm just kidding, Steffy." he walked in towards his brother and placed his hand on his forehead. "Still hot."

"But I feel better." Stefan shrugged.

"That's good. Call me if you need anything. I'll be downstairs." he said, turning back to the door.

"Don't you guys have a plan to go out?" Stefan asked to Damon and Bonnie.

Damon turned to face Stefan. "You are sick, Stefan. It can be held."

"No, Damon you can go."

"Nope. I'll stay here."

Stefan nodded. "Fine. Thanks, D." He knew that Damon wouldn't let him alone. He was over protective since their parents died. Maybe because he knew that he was the older brother so he should protect Stefan no matter what.

"Yeah." Then he and Bonnie left Stefan's room. Stefan sighed and picked his phone from his night stand. He checked contacts and saw Elena's name. Then he called her.

**At the hospital…**

Elena's phone vibrated. She took it near her pillow without stop looking at the TV. Her attention went to her favorite singer on the screen. And without looked at the caller's name, she answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Uh.. Hey." She froze a bit then looked at her phone screen. She just wanted to make sure that she truly heard _his_ voice. "Hello?"

"Oh hello. Sorry." she answered and turned off the TV.

"How are you feeling?"

"Best. My hand is no longer infused."

Stefan chuckled. "That's good to hear."

"You sound sick, Stefan." she heard Stefan's voice was husky.

"I am."

Elena's eyes went wide. "You're sick?"

"Yep. But I feel better."

"Sorry I didn't know that."

"That's okay. It's just a fever though. I'm sure I'll be completely fine in a few hours."

"Are you at home? Is your brother with you?" Stefan smiled at her concern.

"Yeah. Damon and Bonnie are here."

Elena sighed relief and nodded. Even though Stefan didn't see that but she was glad that he wasn't alone at his home.

"Elena?"

"Yeah?"

"When will you go home?"

She looked at the clock. 12.10 PM. "It supposed to be now. But I still have to wait for the lab result."

"With Jenna?"

"Oh no. Jenna is at her office."

"Do you want me to pick you up?"

"Are you crazy? Don't you dare to leave your bed."

Stefan laughed. "Okay."

"Have you taken your medicine?"

"Already have."

She nodded again. Suddenly she heard someone knocked the door and saw the doctor came. "Uh Stefan, the doctor is here."

"Oh okay then. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Get well soon."

"Thanks. You too. Bye."

"Bye." she halfheartedly said it and ended the call.

"Miss Gilbert, how are you feeling?" The doctor asked as he and the nurse walked in.

"Better, Doc." she smiled.

"That's what we expected. And your lab result is already finished." he said then the nurse handed the lab paper. "Nothing is serious. Your aunt gave me your last year lab result from Indonesia. And it's still the same. But I hope you can keep your health. Don't forget to drink all of your medicine. Just to make you stronger."

Elena read the paper and nodded. She smiled at the Doctor's explanation. "Can I go home now?" she asked and turned to face the Doctor. He smiled and nodded.

"Everything is fine. I don't have any reasons to hold you here anymore."

Elena smiled widely. "Thank you so much, Doc."

"Okay. Keep your healthy, Miss Gilbert."

Elena just nodded and both of Doctor and nurse went out of the room. She quickly hopped out of her bed and changed her clothes. After that she washed her face and brushed her teeth. She looked at the clock and knew it was lunch time at school. Then she called Caroline.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Boarding house; the living room…**

"Thought that we can make up for today since Stefan is sick?" Bonnie asked seductively and got closer to Damon on the couch. They were watching supposed-to-be-a-good-show-but-it's-not on _3 Channel_.

"What do you want to do then?" Damon smiled and pulled her close so he could kiss her cheek.

She sighed happily when he did that. "Keep doing that."

"Doing what?" he teased her. She turned her face to see Damon and pouted. Damon laughed. "I know what you mean, baby." then he placed his fingers on her chin and tilted her face to kiss her lips.

"You absolutely know that." she said as she pulled back.

"Sssh. Don't say anything." Damon shushed her and kissed her again. They kissed slowly and lazily. She didn't remember since when Damon was on top of her. But it didn't mind. Though she liked it. His hand went to Bonnie's waist as he kept kissing her.

"Damon." she breathed.

"Hmm?" he started to kiss her neck.

"We shouldn't…" suddenly he pulled himself and looked at her eyes disappointedly. Bonnie smiled as she caressed his cheeks. "I haven't finished my words yet. I meant we shouldn't do it on the couch. And yet, you haven't took a bath." she held her laugh.

"Why not? We can do wherever we want. And I can take a bath with you after _that_." he winked and kissed her again. She smiled as she kissed him back.

"No, no, no. You take a bath first. I'm gonna make some food for lunch." she said as she pushed his chest slightly. Damon smiled wisely and nodded.

"Okay." he agreed and kissed her once more. Then they heard someone rang the bell. They both sat up. Then Bonnie went to the kitchen and Damon walked towards the door.

He opened the door and saw a girl. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon. Uh… Is this Stefan's house?"

"Yep. And you are…?"

"Sorry. I'm Elena Gilbert." she offered her hand.

"Ah, the lovely Elena." he smiled and shook Elena's hand.

"I'm sorry?"

"Nothing. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother. Please come in."

Elena nodded and walked in. "Thank you." Damon just smiled.

"Stefan's room is upstairs. It's 2 doors on your right." he said to Elena and pointed the stairs.

"Alright. Thank you." she said and went upstairs.

Damon walked towards the kitchen and hugged Bonnie from behind. "You should know who just came." he whispered.

"Who?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Elena Gilbert."

Bonnie turned to face Damon. "Stefan's Elena? Seriously?" She was suddenly happy. Damon smiled and nodded. "Think I'll meet her now." But Damon grabbed her wrist.

"Not now, honey. Let them alone." he winked and puller her closer.

She giggled and kissed his cheek. "Okay but enough for today, perv man. Go take a bath."

"Just one more." He pouted and pointed his finger.

"Fine." She placed her hands on his face and kissed him. "Now go." she turned his body and pushed him out of the kitchen. "I'll be waiting here." she patted his bottom to make him move. Then she went back to the kitchen.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**2nd floor…**

Stefan was reading a book when he heard someone knocked his opened door. He turned his face and saw Elena was there. His jaw dropped a little. He was too shocked to see her here. _At his house._

"May I come in?" Elena asked. Stefan was still looking at her disbelief.

He blinked. "Yeah, yeah of course. Please come in." he answered and put the book on his night stand. Elena walked in and looked around to find a chair. She found one near his desk and pulled it towards Stefan's bed.

"How are you feeling?" she asked again and sat on the chair.

Stefan smiled. "As you can see, I'm feeling better."

Elena smiled back and placed her hand on Stefan's forehead. "Hmm. Your fever is gone."

"Thankfully. How did you come here? Did you already know my house?"

"I drove Jenna's car. She doesn't use it. I called Caroline and asked her about your house. And she was a little panic when I told her that you're sick."

"That's Caroline." he smiled and shrugged at the same time.

"Are you that close to her?" she literally asked.

Stefan looked at her eyes. "She's my friend since junior high school. Even though we're not that close, but at least we know each other."

"Oh." she said, throwing her eyes from Stefan's and examined his room. She seemed somewhat jealous. But Stefan didn't really get that.

"Have you seen my brother?" his question made Elena turned her face to see him again.

"Yes. He's so nice."

He chuckled. "You don't know anything about him yet. Bonnie?"

"Not yet. Damon was alone when he opened the door."

"Maybe she's in the kitchen. You're gonna love her, believe me."

"Do you?"

"Of course. I already considered her as my own sister."

"Then you have to obey my words, Steffy." Bonnie suddenly appeared and leaned against the door. Both of Stefan and Elena turned their face and smiled.

"And you have to protect me, Boo." Stefan said jokingly.

Bonnie winked at him and walked towards Elena. "So you must be Elena. I'm Bonnie Bennett. Damon's girlfriend." she said, offering her hand.

Elena accepted her hand and shook it. "Yeah, I'm Elena. Stefan's friend."

"Stefan told about you."

Elena turned to see Stefan disbelief. "Really? What did he say?"

"That you're attractive." Bonnie smiled playfully at him which made him blushed.

"He said that?"

"Uh-huh." Elena looked at Stefan and blushed too. "Don't worry, Elena. He doesn't bite."

"Ha-ha, you're so funny." Stefan said sarcastically and looked at his lovely-sister-in-law-to-be.

"I am funny. Anyway, lunch is ready. Come on, let's go downstairs." she turned back to the door.

"Oh no, thanks." Elena refused politely. Bonnie turned back to her and placed her hands on her waist.

"Oh I don't accept 'no'. Once you get in here, you have to obey the owner's words."

Elena looked at Stefan again. He nodded, supporting what Bonnie said.

"And how about him?" Elena asked again.

"I'll be right there." he smiled. Elena was relief when he said that. She didn't want to disturb Damon and Bonnie. And honestly, she didn't want to be there without Stefan. Then the three of them went downstairs and had a very nice lunch with Damon too.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Matt's house…**

It's 5 PM. Matt had just arrived at his home after had a football practice. He was still thinking about Stefan and Elena. And it was still a negative thought. He thought that Stefan was unfair. He wanted to talk to him tomorrow morning at school. He wanted to make everything clear that he didn't like what Stefan did towards Elena. Even though he knew that Stefan didn't do something bad to her, but it was still made him angry.

"We'll see, Stefan. A traitor like you will never get her." he said to himself.

He picked his phone and wanted to call Elena. But he remembered that he hadn't her number yet. Then he thought to call Caroline and asked about that. But he backed off. Caroline wouldn't pick his call. She was still avoiding him. He didn't have another way. He just could ask Elena by himself at school tomorrow. He threw his phone to his bed and took a shower.

**Boarding house…**

Both of Stefan and Elena were back to Stefan's room. They had a great time with Damon and Bonnie after they had their lunch. They were talking about each other's family. Elena felt the warm from the three of them. And she enjoyed it very much.

"It's almost 6 PM. I have to go home." Elena said, looking at her watch.

Stefan looked at her, somewhat disappointed. "I didn't realize that. But thank you for coming, Elena."

"Yeah no problem, Stefan. I just wanted to make sure that you're okay." she answered and sat on his bed near him.

"Why did you do that?"

"Did what?"

"Came here and wanted to make sure that I'm okay."

"I.. Um.." she lost for words as Stefan leaned to her. Elena closed her eyes and felt his warm breath on her lips. Suddenly her phone rang and shocked both of them. Stefan pulled himself and scratched his hair, even though he wasn't itchy. Elena's cheeks redden and quickly stood and grabbed her phone on the chair.

"Hello?"

"Where are you, Elena?"

"Sorry Jenna. I'm at Stefan's house. He is sick."

Jenna sighed. "You should have call me first and tell me where you are."

"Sorry."

"When will you go home?"

"Now. I just have to say good bye to Stefan first." she answered and looked at him. He was still over-acting. Elena smiled at him.

"Okay. Say hello to him and I hope he will get better soon."

"Okay. See you at home." then she ended the call. She sat back on his bed. "Jenna said hello and hoped that you'll get better soon."

Stefan nodded and smiled a little. "Thank you. Say hello back to her."

"I will." she nodded. "Where were we?"

"Uh…"

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Get well soon, Stefan."

Stefan felt his heart beat faster and nodded slowly. "Thanks again, Elena."

"Yeah." she said as she stood and grabbed her bag on his desk. "See you tomorrow at school?"

Stefan nodded and hopped out of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked.

"I want to accompany you downstairs."

"No, it's okay. I can handle myself."

"Nope. Remember what Bonnie said?"

_Oh I don't accept 'no'._ _Once you get in here, you have to obey the owner's words._

Elena just nodded. Then Stefan accompanied her downstairs. After she said good bye to Damon and Bonnie, she left the house. Stefan was still standing in front of the door until he couldn't see her car anymore.

**A/N : Thoughts?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N : Hmm I'm sorry but I can't tell what sickness that Elena has. It's still a secret mahaha. Just wait and see. And about Matt, he is jealous all the time because he actually knows that Elena will fall for Stefan someday. But he doesn't want to give up. And don't worry, his part is not big. This fic is about Stelena, I won't ruin them. ;)**

** I also love to write Damon as an overprotective brother. I thought that if we can't have it in the show, at least we can have it here. :) **

**And again thank you so much for you reviews and the compliments! I didn't expect that I would get so many of them. Thank you! That makes me even eager to write. :')**

Stefan walked into the house and closed the door. Then he went to the living room where Damon and Bonnie were. He sat on the couch across them.

"So, you were right, Stefan. She's attractive." Damon opened a conversation. Stefan turned to see him and nodded.

"Like I said."

"And she's so natural. No drama on her face." Bonnie added. "She is just like a kid."

"Yep." Damon agreed. "Go get her. A girl like her is rarely found, Stefan."

This time, Stefan stayed quiet. But he couldn't deny that he wanted to get closer to her. Wanted to know about the guy in his dreams either. But then he stood.

"Where are you going?" Damon asked.

"Take a bath."

"How about your fever?" Bonnie asked too.

"Completely heal, Bonnie. Don't worry."

"Use the warm water."

"Okay. See you guys later." Stefan went upstairs to his room. Actually he was thinking about him and Elena. They were almost… Stefan stopped his mind. He was embarrassed yet kinda regretted. If they kissed, he would know how Elena feels about him. He would know Elena wants the same thing or not. But he told himself that maybe someday he could try again. He _would_ do that. Didn't take more of time, he grabbed his clean towel from his cupboard and took a bath.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"How's Stefan?" Jenna asked as Elena walked into the house. She was waiting for her in the living room.

"Better." Elena sat near her but her face turned red. Jenna saw that and couldn't hold herself to not to tease her niece.

"What happened between you and Stefan?" Jenna asked, caressing Elena's hair. Elena shook her head. Jenna wasn't sure. "Really? Because I can see that your face is reddening now." she said playfully. Elena kept shaking her head, too embarrassed to look at Jenna. Suddenly she gasped, "Oh my God! You kissed him!"

Elena quickly turned her face and closed Jenna's mouth with her hand. "No, no. Jenna, we didn't! We, uh..."

"You what?" Jenna asked impatient as she released Elena's hand.

"We… Uh…" Suddenly she ran upstairs. Jenna couldn't stop her but she yelled,

"You almost kissed him!"

"Don't talk about it again, Jenna!" Elena yelled back and closed her door. Jenna smiled widely. She knew that she was right again. And also knew that Elena was embarrassed. But it was fun for her. And it made her happy honestly. Her thought about Elena would fall for Stefan was going to be true. She just had to wait for the 'day'.

**Elena's bedroom…**

Elena sat on her bed, thinking about what was almost happened between her and Stefan in his bedroom. She closed her eyes and touched her lips, remembering how close he was, how warm his breaths were on it. She clearly wanted _that_**. **If Jenna didn't call, she would know what exactly Stefan feels about her. On the other side, she thanked that her aunt called. She was afraid that she and Stefan would have a strange feeling after that. She didn't want to make it rush. She wanted to make sure first that she and Stefan were on the right time to do that.

Suddenly she remembered _him_. Then she stood and walked towards her desk. She turned her laptop on and wrote an e-mail.

_ To : _

_ Subject : Hey you!_

_ From : _

_ I don't know from where I have to start. But I really want to know about your life since I left Indonesia. How are you? Or maybe, how have you been? I know that you're still mad at me. But you have to respect my choice to go back to America. I didn't mean to make you sad. Leave or even avoid you. Ah… Forget it. I send you this because I just want you to know that I already have friends here. Who said that I am the introvert one? :P oh and I also still a cheerleader._

_ Well, about me, I'm good. I know you didn't ask, but I think you need to know. I want you to know about that. But please don't ask me to go back to Indonesia. Or I will kill you. ;)_

_ By the way, I also want you to know that I have a new friend that I think I started to fall in love with. I know, I should yell "YOUR BESTFRIEND IS FALLING IN LOVE!" to you haha. Anyway, he is so kind and polite. He is always beside me, always helps me. And I'm happy for that. Even though we're just knew each other for a few days, but he makes me feel safe everytime I'm around him. Uh… I hope someday you'd meet him. I think you two can be friends._

_If you have time, please reply this. I miss you._

_Elena_

Elena soon realized that she was crying after she clicked 'send'. Her tears fell hard onto her cheeks. She covered her face with her hands and sat there until she felt better.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Good morning." Elena greeted, putting her bag on the chair and poured a bottle of milk to her glass.

"Morning." Jenna greeted back as she saw Elena's face and suddenly stood. "What happened?" she walked towards Elena and grabbed her shoulders.

She shook her head. "I just missed _him_, Jenna."

"Just that? You don't feel sick, do you?"

"No, no. I just think about him. That's because I sent an e-mail to him last night. Don't worry, I'll feel better soon."

"Ah. I hope you will, Sweetie." Jenna said as she caressed Elena's hair. "Eat your sandwich first then go to school."

Elena nodded. "Yeah, thank you Jenna."

Jenna smiled and sat back on her chair. She could feel what Elena felt. She wanted to make her feel better. But she didn't know how it should be. She just looked at her niece until she went to school.

**At school…**

"Did you go to the hospital yesterday?"

Stefan turned to see the voice's owner and saw it was Matt. "No. I was sick so I stayed at home."

"Don't lie to me, Stefan."

"Don't start, Matt. I seriously was sick."

Matt studied Stefan's eyes and words. He would know if Stefan lied to him. But his eyes didn't prove that. He was telling him the truth.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you get sick?"

"Oh please, Matt. I am a human, not a robot. I could get sick in every time." Stefan shrugged and kept walking to his class. Matt walked behind him, still studying Stefan's words.

"I want to ask something, Stefan." Matt said.

"Shoot it."

"Are you falling in love with Elena?"

Stefan suddenly stopped. Matt almost bumped into his back. Then he turned back to see him.

"What? Am I wrong?" Matt asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Stefan looked around and sighed heavily. "No, you're not wrong. Uh I'm still not sure about that. But I won't deny that I have something towards her. I feel something. And I want to get closer to her. I know that maybe I'm a traitor to you because I told you that I didn't want to be a part of this game. But this is not a game. This is for real. And I want to be sportive." he declared.

Matt stayed quiet, waiting for Stefan to continue it.

"And I want you to respect that as I always respect you." Stefan added. "I didn't want to be a traitor, Matt. That's why I'm telling you this."

Matt nodded. He didn't know what to say honestly. He didn't expect that Stefan would say that. "Fine. Then it's not a game. This is for real, we have to be sportive. And I'll respect you as you respect me."

Stefan smiled and offered his hand. Matt looked at it and hesitated. But he couldn't be selfish. He had a deal with him so he should obey it. He took Stefan's hand and shook it. "Then we're deal."

"Deal." Stefan agreed. "I, uh, have to go now."

Matt just nodded, watching Stefan go to his class. And then he walked to his locker.

**At Elena's class…**

Elena walked into her class and saw Katherine was sitting on a table near her place. She gulped and suddenly felt bad mood. This was gonna be a bad day for her. She took a deep breath and walked towards her table. Katherine saw her and stood.

"Ah Princess Elena." she said as she blocked her way.

"Katherine." Elena greeted and tried to go to her table. But Katherine still blocked her.

"A a a. Where do you want to go?"

"My table." Elena said to the point.

"Why are you so impatient?" Katherine asked, crossing her arms over her chest and twirling her curly hair. "I knew Stefan was absent yesterday. Did he go to your place?"

"If I say yes, what is your problem?"

Katherine smiled evilly and literally grabbed Elena's wrist and spin her around. "I told you to stay away from him. Which part that you don't understand?" she whispered. Elena stayed quiet. Katherine tightened her hands on Elena's once again then released her. "Stay away from him." she said once more and left Elena alone. Elena walked to her table and her friends came to her quickly.

"Are you okay, Elena?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"You have to be careful with her. She will do anything to harm you."

Elena just smiled and nodded. "Thanks." then she stood and went to the rest room to wash her face.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Lunch time…**

"Hello, Elena." Matt greeted as he reached her table at the cafeteria.

"Hey, Matt. Take a seat." she smiled and pointed the empty chair in front of her.

"How are you?" he asked as he sat.

"Better. How about you?"

"Best." Elena smiled again and took a sip of her apple juice.

"What did you do after out of the hospital yesterday?" Matt tried to build a conversation. But he didn't know that he chose the wrong topic.

"Um… Went to Stefan's house." she answered honestly.

Matt gulped and froze a little bit. And again, he was jealous. But he tried to hide it. "Oh. What did you do?"

"Visited him. He was sick yesterday." she looked at Matt but didn't see his jealousy.

"I didn't know that. I just knew by this morning." he said. Elena just nodded. "By the way, tell me about Indonesia. I haven't been there before." he quickly changed the topic. Elena literally told him all about Indonesia. About foods, people, places. She told him eagerly. Matt listened to her carefully and smiled whenever she smiled. And was secretly relief that he wouldn't hear anything about Stefan from her mouth. At least for now.

Elena and Matt were too busy on imagining Indonesia so they didn't realize that someone was staring at them. Yep, that someone was Stefan. He was looking for Elena. He wanted to talk with her. He kinda missed her actually. But when he walked into the cafeteria, he saw she was with Matt and smiled even laughed all the time. He was jealous too, yes. But he decided to leave the place.

_I will respect you as you respect me._

_ And I want you to respect that as I always respect you._

He remembered what Matt said. What he said to Matt either. He had to keep his words. He looked at them once more and closed the cafeteria door. Then he went to the field.

**At school; 3.30 PM…**

Elena's phone vibrated. She took it and looked at the caller's name.

"Hello?"

"What do you think if we invite Stefan to have dinner with us tonight?" Jenna asked to the point. Elena was shocked to hear that. "Elena?"

She blinked a few times. "Y.. Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh..?"

"Do you agree or not?"

"About what again?"

"Invite Stefan to have dinner with us. Tonight."

"Ah that. Yeah, that would be great." she answered. Her cheeks redden again. She was already imagining _their_ dinner.

"Okay. You go tell him."

"Okay…" she was still unsure.

"Okay?"

"Okay." she reassured Jenna once more. This time, she was sure.

"Good. Go home now, we will cook."

"Indonesian?"

"Indonesian." Elena could know that Jenna was smiling by her tone.

Elena smiled widely. "Okay. Thank you, Jenna. See you at home." then she ended the call. She was so happy and excited about tonight. She quickly put her things back to her bag from the locker and went outside to see Stefan.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Stefan was still in football room and read the new strategy on the whiteboard in front of him. Suddenly he heard someone was coming and turned around.

"Ah I failed. I was supposed to surprise you, honey."

"What are you doing here, Katherine?" he sounded lazy.

She pouted. "Why are you always being so rude to me?"

"I don't have time to talk with you." he said as he stood.

She held him in the place. "Wait, wait. I'm sorry. I just want to say something to you. I promise, I'll behave." she said and pushed him down to make him sat again on his chair.

"What do you want to talk about?" he said, letting her win this time. She looked serious anyway. She kneeled in front of him and held his hands. Stefan tried to yank his hands, but Katherine held them too tight.

"I want to tell something important."

"For you or for me?"

"Both of us."

"What do you mean?"

"Just listen to me. I… I…" she stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm sick, Stefan."

"What kind of sick? Crazy? Everyone already knew that."

Katherine looked at him hopelessly. He saw that and closed his mouth. "Sorry. Go on." he added.

"I have a cancer."

BAM. Stefan felt like something sharp hit his head in all of sudden. Even though he didn't love her anymore, didn't mean that he would be that heartless.

"Are you serious?"

Katherine nodded. "Blood cancer. And I already have stadium 3."

"You're kidding, right?" he asked, looking at her eyes closely.

She shook her head weakly. "I wish. But I'm not kidding, Stefan." Her tears fell down onto her cheeks. Stefan's heart wasn't a rock anyway. He felt bad for her. He didn't know what to do or even say so he's just letting her placed her head onto his lap and caressed her hair. He was shocked. They stayed quiet for a few minutes. And they didn't realize that someone was looking at them heartbreakingly.

"_Hey, you are Tyler right?" she asked as she got closer to him near the field._

_ He turned around and nodded. "Yeah, why?"_

_ "Sorry, have you seen Stefan?"_

_"Stefan? Ah he is still in football room."_

_ "Where is it?"_

_ "It's near the library."_

_ "Oh okay. Thank you so much."_

_ "You're welcome."_

_ Then she walked to the football room. When she got closer to it, she was hearing Katherine's voice. And Stefan's. The door wasn't closed perfectly, so she could see inside. She was right. There was Stefan and Katherine. She wanted to go but she was curious what were they saying. So she stayed._

_ "Blood cancer. And I already have stadium 3."_

_ "You're kidding, right?"_

_ "I wish. But I'm not kidding, Stefan." Then she saw Katherine placed her head on Stefan's lap and he caressed her hair._

She couldn't take it any longer and went outside of the school.

**15 minutes later…**

It was raining and school had empty. Katherine left Stefan alone. After cleaned the football room, Stefan locked the door and went outside. He was about to opened his umbrella when he saw a girl was standing not far from his car. He looked at her body and knew that was Elena. He quickly opened the umbrella and ran towards her.

Elena was standing there, alone. She enjoyed the rain fell onto her body. Even though that was a heavy rain, but she didn't mind. She was trying to forget about what she saw in the football room. She didn't like it at all. But she was no one to Stefan. She shouldn't act like that. But it seriously hurt her.

"Elena?"

She gasped and turned around. Stefan was behind her and placed the umbrella above their heads to keep them from the rain.

"What are you doing? You could get cold." he said and pulled her closer. That made Elena wanted to cry. She was wrong about Stefan. She thought or even wanted him to love her but she was too confident about it. She pulled herself and stepped back. Stefan looked at her curiously.

"You can go back to Katherine, Stefan." she said weakly.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, trying to pull her back to him.

"Katherine is sick and you have to be there for her!" she suddenly yelled and couldn't hold her tears any longer.

Stefan felt like she was slapping his face. "You knew that?"

"I saw you with her! You…" her words were cut as Stefan threw the umbrella, grabbed her face and kissed her eagerly. She closed her eyes but didn't kiss him back. When he pulled back, he looked at her eyes directly.

"Why didn't you kiss me back? Don't you feel the same?" he asked, caressing her cheeks.

Elena felt her tears fell harder onto her cheeks but Stefan didn't realize that.

He rested his forehead on Elena's. "I think I fall for you." he said and leaned to kiss her again.

**A/N : AHHH finally Stefan kissed Elena! But how Elena will react? See you on the next update! ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N : So sorry for the long update. The college kept me busy. And I'm sorry for the Elena's email. I've written the e-mail addresses but I think the site blocked them. If the e-mail addresses still won't show up in this chapter, blame the site haha no, I'm kidding. You can fill in the blank spaces with whatever you want. :P**

** Gah I don't know what to say except thank you very much for the reviews. That always makes me happy everytime I read them. Thank you! I appreciate it. :D**

_ He rested his forehead on Elena's. "I think I fall for you." he said and leaned to kiss her again._

Elena quickly placed her fingers on Stefan's mouth. He pulled back and opened his eyes.

"Why?"

Elena sighed heavily and ran to pick his umbrella near a tree. She went back to him and placed it above their heads. Even though it's useless, they both were already wet. Stefan still looked at her disappointedly.

"It's too rush, Stefan."

"What do you mean? It's not." he disagreed.

Elena shook her head. "It is. Besides, we have a lot of time to get closer. I just knew you for a few days. So did you about me."

Stefan grabbed Elena's free hand and looked at her eyes closely. "I'm sure it's not the reason. Tell me, Elena. Is it about Katherine?"

Elena yanked her hand from Stefan and smiled weakly. "No, it's not about Katherine. It's about you and me. We have to get more closer first to make me sure about you."

"Make sure about me? Did I do something wrong to you?"

"That's not what I meant, Stefan. You're a great man. Your manners are always fine. Never failed to made me impressed you."

"Then what?" Elena didn't answer. "You know, Elena. I already said it. I'm starting to fall for you." Stefan tried again as he squeezed her hand.

"I know, Stefan."

They lost for words again. But suddenly Stefan asked. "Do you feel the same?"

Elena was hesitated. She had an internal debate in her mind. But then she nodded slowly. She wanted to be honest with him. With herself. Stefan saw that and suddenly grinned.

"At least you do." he said and grabbed the umbrella from Elena. "Come on, I'll drive you home. You're all wet." he said and wrapped his arms around her shoulder to get her closer. She let Stefan did that and walked beside him towards his car.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Where's Stefan? Jenna asked as she saw Elena walked into the house. "And why are you all wet?"

"Not today, Jenna. I'm going upstairs now." she said and quickly went to the stairs.

"Wait. What do you mean not today?" Jenna stopped her again and walked towards her. "What happened?"

Elena sighed and turned to face Jenna. "I forgot to tell him about it." but her eyes were suddenly burst into tears. And Jenna noticed that.

"Did he do something bad to you?" she asked, caressing Elena's cheeks. And that made Elena couldn't hold her tears anymore. She literally hugged Jenna, sobbing. "Elena, tell me what happened."

Elena didn't answer and this time Jenna let her to cry even louder as she caressed her hair. She would wait for Elena's explanation.

"There, there. You have to take a warm shower first before you get cold. When you're ready, you can tell me everything." Jenna said, pulling herself from Elena. Elena nodded and wiped her tears. Jenna pointed Elena's nose playfully. "Go take a shower, okay?" she turned Elena's body to face upstairs again then she went to the kitchen to prepare the dinner.

**Elena's bedroom…**

Elena looked fresh after she took a shower. She was already had new clothes on and sat on her desk chair. She was still thinking about the kiss. She couldn't deny that she was happy. Yet regret. No, she wasn't regret about Stefan kissed her. But the way she _stopped_ him. But she thought that was for the best. She really didn't want to make it rush.

She took a deep breath and turned on her laptop. She checked her e-mail inbox and still no reply from him. Even though it disappointed her, but she decided to write another e-mail.

** _To: ___**

** _ Subject : It's me again._**

_** From : **_

_Hey. How are you? Uh why do I ask that? Though you won't reply this, will you? But it doesn't matter to me. I'll try harder to get your reply. Yeah you know that I'm THAT stubborn._

_ By the way have you read my previous e-mail about someone that I started to fall in love with? I need someone to talk to about this. And I just think about you. Your best friend needs you here._

_ Well, where do I have to start? Oh I know. His name is Stefan. Stefan Salvatore. There was something that I've never expected to happen. But it did anyway. Ugh… I'm sorry before but I can't tell you what that was. Maybe I'll tell you later, not now. But I swear, he didn't do anything bad. He didn't do anything harm to me. He did something… sweet. Memorable. And I loved it._

_ Do you think that my feeling for him is too rushed? I don't know what's happening on me. But I've never felt like this before. Sounds cheesy eh? But yeah you know that I've always being kinda careful with these things._

_ I decided to get more closer to him first. Just to make me sure about him. Do you think that is a great idea? Please help me._

_ And I'm still missing you._

_ Elena_

She re-read it and clicked 'send' after she thought it was enough. She sighed heavily and leaned back to her chair.

_"I think I fall for you."_

Suddenly Stefan words came into her mind once again. She literally blushed and smiled as she touched her lips.

_"Blood cancer. And I already have stadium 3."_

Her smile faded as she remembered Katherine's face. Stefan's face when he heard her words. And when she placed her face on Stefan's lap.

"No, no, no." she said, shaking her head. "That's their business. I shouldn't think about that. She's his ex, anyways. I don't have any rights to get jealous or whatever." she calmed herself. "But…"

"Elena, the dinner is ready!" Jenna suddenly yelled and corrupted Elena's mind.

Elena gasped and yelled back. "I'll be down in one minute!" she looked at her e-mail inbox once again. Then disconnected the internet, turned off her laptop and went downstairs.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It was still dark. Damon was still at Uncle Dean's house to prepare his wedding which was just in 3 more weeks. Time had flight fast. Stefan sighed and hopped out of the car. He slowly walked towards the door while remembering what happened with him and Elena a few hours ago. _He kissed her_.

Stefan smiled a little. He couldn't believe that he could do that. He didn't know what did come into his mind before it happened. He loved it, of course. Loved the fact that he could kiss her and she had feelings for him.

"It was a very good start." he said to himself and chuckled.

_I think I'll be brave starting with you_

_ But I'll fall away if you tell me to_

He began sang as he kept imagining Elena's face. When he reached to front door, he soon unlocked it and walked inside.

_I'd rather be wrong_

_ Then hope that I'm right_

_ Cause I can't go on_

_ With this all inside_

He continued to sing and turned on all of the lamps. He couldn't hide his happiness.

_I think I'll be brave_

_ And say how I've wanted you_

His phone suddenly vibrated and made him stop singing. He saw the caller's name.

"Hello?" he picked the phone, still smiling.

"You sound happy, baby bro."

"I am."

"What happened?"

"Hmm it's not your business, D." he laughed a little.

"Huh. Right. Well, are you at home?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Bonnie and I are gonna have dinner at Mystic Grill. Want something?"

"Umm I want chicken steak and blueberry pie."

"Fine. I'll be home in an hour or so. Is that okay?"

"Yep. I'll be waiting."

"Okay." Damon agreed and ended the call.

Then Stefan went upstairs to take a shower.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"So what did happen that made you forgot to invite him to have a dinner with us?" Jenna asked as she washed the plates and Elena cleaned the table. Elena was a bit shocked and didn't know what to say. Jenna turned her face to see her niece curiously. "Elena?"

Elena blinked a few times and turned to face Jenna. "Yeah. Something happened. It was a good thing actually."

"Then why were you all wet?" she asked again, turning back to wash the rest.

"I didn't bring my umbrella."

"How did you get home?"

"Stefan drove me home."

"Ah… The lovely Stefan." she said playfully, grabbing a small towel to clean her hands. Elena's face turned red. She swore, everytime she heard someone mentioned Stefan, she felt her heart wanted to jump out of her chest. "Then when will you invite him?"

"Uh, I don't know yet."

Her answer made Jenna furrowed. But she didn't want to ask why. She thought that Elena wanted to make it more special. "Okay then. Tell me whenever you want to invite him. I'll prepare the ingredients for foods."

"I will. Thanks, Jenna." she nodded and walked out of the kitchen. "Hey, I have to do my homework in my room." she said as she pointed the ceiling, pretending like she pointed her bedroom.

"Of course. See you tomorrow." Jenna smiled and then Elena went upstairs.

As she walked upstairs, she thought how she would invite Stefan for dinner. She wanted to make it looked normal. But what would she say?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Stefan walked alone. He was in a park. He didn't know where exactly he was. It was for the first time he had been there.

"Where am I?" he said confusedly as he looked around. He saw a long wood chair in front of the fountain. He walked towards it and sat there.

"It's too quiet." he thought. "And it's still noon." he said again, looking at his watch. But then he saw someone was standing near a tree across his chair. He felt familiar about him. And he remembered it was _him_. He looked around again and saw Elena walked to _him_ from another direction.

"Elena?" he stood and tried to get closer to both of them until he could hear their voices.

"Hi Arden." Elena greeted _him_.

Arden?

He nodded. "Elena."

"I missed you."

"I know."

"How have you been?"

"Stop." he said to her. She looked at him curiously. "Let's get the point here. Who is Stefan Salvatore?"

Stefan gulped. He heard clearly that _he_ who named Arden said his name. How did he know about his name?

Elena didn't answer. And it kinda made Stefan sad. He wanted Elena to say something. More than friends, for the specific.

"Elena, who is Stefan Salvatore?" Arden asked again.

"Stefan is…" Elena started to talk.

Suddenly his phone rang loudly. Stefan was panic and searched for it from his jeans pocket. He saw that Arden and Elena were searching the source of the voice but didn't see him. He literally walked back to his chair and picked it up.

"Stefan, open the door!" his eyes suddenly open and sat on the couch. He looked at his phone which he exactly was holding in his hand.

"Damon?"

"Yes. Who else? Open the door, Steffy. I forgot to take the key from Bonnie when I drove her home."

"Ah yeah, yeah." Stefan said, rubbing his sleepy eyes and ended the call. He looked back at the couch and then stood to follow what Damon said.

"Thank you and sorry I'm late." Damon said as Stefan swung the door open and let Damon walked in.

"That's okay." Stefan answered and locked the door again. "Where's my food?"

"Here." Damon handed the boxes. "I'm going upstairs now."

"Okay. Thanks, D."

"Yeah." then he went upstairs. Stefan walked towards the kitchen.

"Arden? His name is Arden?" he thought. "Who is Arden to Elena? Best friend? Boyfriend? Family? And how the hell did he know about my name?" he had so many questions in his head as he ate his food. "But when I kissed her, she didn't say anything about having a boyfriend or something." he said again. Then suddenly he realized. He thought that Elena was right for taking more time for both of them. She wanted to make everything clear and nothing to hide. She wanted him to know everything about her. But in the other hand, she wanted to make sure herself about him. And he should take this opportunity to get to know about Arden. Or whatever his name was.

"Your wish is my command, Elena." he said to himself and stopped eating. Then he placed the dirty plate on the sink and turned off the kitchen lamp. "I'll try to follow your way." he whispered and went upstairs to his room.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Morning, Caroline."

She gasped and turned around. "Geez, Elena you scared me."

"Sorry." she smiled and continued her steps beside Caroline. "So today we have schedule, don't we?"

"Yep. And you have to be there, on time."

"Will do, Chief." Elena winked and walked to her locker, separated from Caroline who was walking towards the library. Suddenly someone tapped her shoulder. She literally turned around.

"Shocked?"

"A bit, Mr. Salvatore." she answered, smiling and turning back to her locker.

"It's a purpose."

"Ah you're fad." she looked at him and laughed. "Uh wait, are you free tonight?" she asked nervously.

Stefan smiled and looked at her eyes. "Yes. Why?"

"Would you want to come to my house to have dinner together?"

"Just two of us?" he asked, smiling widely.

"No, Jenna will be there too."

"Ah I thought…"

"Jenna will help me cook." she could see the disappointment from his eyes. But she just smiled.

"You can cook?" he looked surprised.

She furrowed. "Yep. And I'll cook Indonesian foods. You're gonna like it."

"Hmm, sounds good. Okay then, 6 PM."

"Okay." she smiled and nodded. "See you tonight." she closed her locker and went to her class, left Stefan alone.

**At Stefan's class…**

Katherine walked to Stefan's table as he corrected his task. He was too focused on it and didn't realize that she was coming.

"Hi." she greeted.

Without a look, Stefan greeted back. "Morning, Katherine."

"What are you doing?"

"Can't you see?"

Katherine smirked. Stefan didn't see that and thought that his words were irritated her. He remembered about her sickness in all of a sudden. He looked at her and apologized. She gave him her best smile and nodded.

"By the way, are you free tonight?"

"Nope. I have an appointment."

"Really? What appointment?"

Stefan found it annoying. Even though maybe she just wanted to look normal by asked that, but it still made him uncomfortable.

"Not your business."

"Ah yes, sorry. But can you please accompany me to the hospital this afternoon? I have to meet my doctor."

Stefan stopped writing and looked at her again. "I can't. I have to help Mrs. Webber to check the new books for library and today is my football schedule."

"I forgot that you're a librarian."

"I'm not. But I don't want to disappoint Mrs. Webber. She is always kind to me as you know."

"Yeah I know. Okay then, I'll go by myself. Bye Stefan." she said disappointedly. Stefan just nodded and watched her went out of the class.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Okay, enough for today gals." Caroline clapped her hands, signing the practice was over. Her team literally stopped moving. They grabbed their towel and went to cheerleaders' room. Elena sat on the land and straighten her legs.

Caroline looked at her and smiled. "You coming with us, Miss Gilbert?"

Elena laughed a little. "No. Go ahead."

"Okay then. See you tomorrow." Caroline waved her hand and left Elena.

As she tried to make her breaths became normal, she watched around her. Team football still practiced. Her eyes were automatically looking for Stefan. When she saw him, she smiled. He was focused on the game. But she enjoyed it much. He was so charming.

Then suddenly they stopped playing. Stefan went to his coach and talked about something. When he turned around, he saw Elena was looking at him not far from his place. He waved his hand and smiled. Elena did too. It made him wanted to go to her, but he remembered that Matt wanted to have a meeting before they could go home. So he nodded once, still smiling and went to the team's room. Elena, a bit disappointed, just looked at his back. But she decided to go to her room and went home. She had to prepare everything for dinner tonight.

**20 minutes later…**

Elena was walking towards the school cage and saw Stefan carried Katherine to his car. His face was clearly in panic. Then she ran to him but it was too late because he already turned the machine on and went out of the school.

"What happened, Matt?" she asked as Matt walked closer to her.

"Katherine was talking with Stefan when suddenly she fainted." he sighed and shook his head. "Well play, Katherine." he whispered. But Elena heard that. She just looked at him who was smiling at her.

Well play? Was she joking with her sickness or it was just Matt?

**A/N : Good? Bad? Weird?**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N : I'm truly and deeply sorry for my grammar. I come from Indonesia and this is my very first [English] fanfic, so please forgive me and I hope you understand that. I'll try to make it better.**

** And I can't believe you keep saying 'thank you for writing' to me. Like, HEY! I'm the one who supposed to say thanks! Thank you for supporting me and make me even eager to write. I wouldn't have written until now (9 chapters) without all of you! So thank you! :'D**

It's been 10 days since Elena saw Stefan carried Katherine to his car. And it's also been 10 days since Elena invited Stefan to had dinner at her house. They cancelled it. _Again_. He apologized to her million times and she could get over it. She was regret, yes. But she couldn't do anything else. Nowadays, she was just trying to enjoy her school and cheerleader practices.

Actually, it hurt her. No, it didn't hurt. It disappointed her. She thought that she could spend a lot of times with him. But he was busy with Katherine. She wasn't sure if Stefan just had empathy for her or he still loved her. Yeah, since that 'thing', they got closer again. Stefan always helped her, drove her home, accompanied her wherever she felt lonely (mostly at her home) and etc. Elena knew that things from himself or even Matt. But on the other side, she was… relief. Because even though he was busy with Katherine but he never forgot to texted or called her. Even just for say hi or goodnight.

About Jenna, she knew everything about Stefan and her niece. Elena kept telling her about Stefan and herself. And she kept e-mailing her best friend, hoping that he would reply someday. For now, she just thought about her feelings to Stefan. She wanted to make it right. Wanted to take it slow but sure. Wanted to make herself sure about it. About him. She didn't want to deny that she fell for Stefan too. Everytime she thought about him, she always had a bright smile on her face. Her heart always beat faster whenever she heard someone mentioned his name. And her face always turned to red whenever Jenna teased her. Yes, those were the signs which proved Jenna and herself that she had something for him. And no one could against it.

**Once, on a Sunday morning…**

"Morning, sweetheart." Jenna said as she opened the window and let the sunshine came to Elena's face, causing Elena groaned and closed her face with a pillow. Jenna smiled and took the pillow off of her face. "Come on, baby. It's a lovely Sunday. We have to go to the grocery store."

"Why?" Elena asked, her eyes were still closing.

"We have to buy some ingredients."

"For what?"

"Oh my God, Elena. Did you forget that we will have dinner with Stefan tonight?" Jenna rolled her eyes and crossed her hands over her chest.

Suddenly Elena opened her eyes and gasped. "I forgot."

"You're lucky that I didn't. Chop, chop. Go get ready." Jenna clapped her hands and walked out of her room. Elena cursed herself. She couldn't believe that she forgot about today._ Tonight._

"What happened to me?" she asked, grabbing her towel and took a quick shower.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Buzz. Buzz.

Stefan threw his hand over his night stand to take his phone without opened his eyes. He groaned when he couldn't find it. He forcedly opened his eyes and looked for it. Katherine called. He rolled back to the mattress and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Can you please go with me to the grocery store today?"

"Can't."

She pouted. "Why?"

"Have to help Damon."

"You can help tomorrow."

"I can't, Katherine."

"Stefan…"

"Don't be like a kid." Stefan warned.

"Fine, fine. Then you should come here for dinner."

"Can't too."

"Why?"

"Already have an appointment."

"But I'm alone."

"You used to be alone."

Katherine sighed heavily. Even though she had him for 10 days or so, but it wasn't enough. "Okay, maybe next time."

"Yeah. _Maybe_."

"Bye." she ended the call. Suddenly she felt lazy to the grocery store. Then she decided to go to the salon instead.

**Grocery store…**

"Okay, what do you want to cook?"

"Hmm… Rendang, sambal goreng kentang, and soup."

"What soup?"

"Mix. We need carrots, cabbage, garlic, green onion, red onion, chicken broth and meatballs."

"Sounds delicious."

"That's because of the smart chef."

Jenna and Elena laughed a little. Then they walked to buy the ingredients that they needed. Beefs, potatoes, chilies, coconut milk, and for the soup. Elena was so excited for tonight. She remembered when Stefan asked her if he still has the dinner invitation. His face was hopeless, honestly. She said yes and told him to come on Sunday evening which was… today.

"I know you're excited for tonight, honey."

"Is that a bad thing?"

Jenna smiled. "No, of course not. It's good." she wrapped her hand around Elena's shoulder and walked with her to buy another things. Elena smiled nervously. Her aunt always knew everything. She never could hide things in front of her. But that made her relief. At least she didn't have to lie.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Didn't you have an ordered wedding cake, Bonnie?" Stefan asked as he hopped out of the car and saw the name of the store. _Mystic Bakery : Breads, Wedding Cake and Tarts._

"I did. But the caterer called me yesterday, he said that he couldn't make it."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Even though I was mad, but I didn't want to make it worse. So I choose to order another cake."

"Huh." he scoffed.

"At least there are still a few days. I heard this caterer is can be trusted. He can work quickly." Damon said, grabbing Bonnie's hand and leading them in. Stefan walked behind both of them and looked around. The smell of breads was teasing him. It smelled delicious. Then he decided to buy some for him. When Damon and Bonnie talked to the caterer, Stefan stayed near the door. He pulled his phone from his jeans and saw the to-do list for today. _Dinner with Elena & Jenna. :)_

He chuckled as he saw that. He didn't remember that he put a smile icon on that. Maybe he was too happy when he wrote it.

_"You can come to my house on Sunday."_

_ "Sure."_

_ "If you want to cancel it again, just call me."_

_ "No, no. I don't want to cancel it. I will come to your house before six."_

_ Elena laughed. "Fine. See you on Sunday." she waved her hand and walked to the school cage._

He smiled again as he remembering how excited he was when Elena said that. He has been waiting for too long. And he hoped that no one would ruin his plan tonight. Not Damon, Bonnie or even Katherine. He wanted to have a successful dinner with Elena and Jenna. Then he went to Damon and Bonnie's place to hear whatever they said to the caterer.

**Elena's house…**

"The rendang is ready!" Jenna said, smiling proudly. Finally she could cook rendang again until these years.

"Thank you, Jenna." Elena smiled and tasted it. "Hmm.. It's delicious." She took another piece to be tasted.

"Ah ah ah. Who is the chef? Me. And don't taste it too much." Jenna warned as she lifted the bowl.

"Sorry." she laughed and went back to her place. She was cutting the potatoes into a small cut. Just like a small box.

"What else do you need?" Jenna asked as she looked at the clock. 2 PM.

"I need you to cut all of soup ingredients. Like a normal cut."

"I got it. Will do, chief." she literally went to the refrigerator and took the ingredients. She didn't want to waste time. They had to finish it before five.

"Thanks again, Jenna."

"Stop saying thank you, Elena. This is our house. And FYI, I will eat them too." she answered and smiled. Elena smiled back at her and shook her head. She was happy to have Jenna around.

**Boarding house…**

It's almost five. Stefan was reading his new novel and didn't realize that the time had flight fast. He literally stood and grabbed his towel to have a shower. He wanted to make a good impression for Elena and Jenna. It's not because he was an impression seeker. But he wanted to look good in front of his lover and her aunt. _His lover_. He chuckled when he thought about it.

When he was almost ready, Damon walked to Stefan's room and leaned to his door, crossing his arms.

"Where are you going?"

"Elena's house."

"Are you…?" Damon hung his words.

Stefan looked at him and shook his head. "Nope."

"Then why are you going there?"

"She invited me to have a dinner."

"Just two of you?"

Stefan shook his head again, somewhat disappointed. "No, her aunt will be there too."

"Ah. I thought it's just the two of you. Enjoy it then."

"Sure. I'm off, D." he said, walking towards the door and tapping Damon's shoulder once as a goodbye sign. Damon just nodded and turned around to see Stefan went downstairs. This was Damon's turn to be alone in the house. He never knew that it was really suck. And he wondered how come Stefan was used to it. He shrugged and went to the living room to watch a movie that he bought earlier.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Elena, it's almost 5.30 PM and you're not ready yet." Jenna's eyes went wide as she approached to the kitchen and saw Elena still prepared the table.

Elena looked at her and shook her head. "I'm not finished yet."

"No, no, no. Go get ready now. Stefan may come in any minutes."

"No, Jenna. Let me."

"No." she said, grabbing the plate from Elena's hand and put it on the table. "You, Ms. Gilbert have to get ready before your prince charming comes."

Suddenly they heard someone knocked the door. Both of them literally looked at the door and panic.

"What I said, eh?"

"Crap!"

"Go. Now!" Jenna yelled and pushed Elena towards the stairs. She literally ran upstairs to get ready. Jenna looked at the table once again and opened the door. She saw Stefan, gorgeous as usual, was standing in front of her, smiling.

"Good afternoon almost evening, Jenna." Stefan greeted as he nodded and shook Jenna's hand.

"Stefan. Good to see you here. Please come in." she said and stepped back to let Stefan in. "Elena is still upstairs."

Stefan nodded and looked around. "I smell something delicious."

"That's the menu for dinner." she winked and asked Stefan to sat down on the couch while waiting for Elena.

Elena was still brushing her hair as she heard Jenna and Stefan were laughing so hard. It made her smiled. After she was sure that she was ready, she went downstairs and saw Stefan was sitting on the couch, focused on his phone. She didn't see Jenna there.

"Hey." Elena greeted.

Stefan turned to see her and smiled. "Hey."

Elena took a seat in front of him. "How are you?"

He chuckled. "Fine. But I've been waiting for so long to have this."

"Dinner?"

"Yep."

Elena smiled and stood. "I'm gonna check everything up. Do you mind if I leave you?"

"No, take your time." he shook his head. Elena nodded and went to the kitchen. She saw Jenna was standing near the table and set everything up.

"Have you met Stefan?"

"Yeah."

"Now go tell him, everything is ready."

Elena just nodded. Her heart beat faster this time. She didn't know why but she was truly nervous. Even though it was just dinner, but it's not as simple as she thought before.

"Stefan, come on. The dinner is ready." she said as she reached the living room. Stefan nodded and followed her behind. When they entered the kitchen, Jenna was pouring the mineral water to the glasses.

"Ah Stefan, take a seat." Jenna said politely.

"You first, Jenna." he walked towards her and pulled her chair, letting Jenna sat. Jenna just smiled and looked at Elena. They both were mesmerized by his manner. Then he walked towards Elena and puller her chair. "Elena." he smiled.

"Thank you." she whispered. She was even more nervous. Stefan just nodded and walked to his own chair in front of her.

"Uh Stefan I hope you're hungry because you have to eat rice."

"I'm extremely hungry, Jenna. Elena told me before that she would cook Indonesian foods. And I knew that I would eat rice tonight. So I emptied my stomach."

"All day?"

"No, but I skipped lunch."

Elena felt guilty. "You skipped lunch? But you can get sick, Stefan. Sorry for that."

"What are you talking about? I'm not gonna sick, Elena. Because tonight I'll eat all of this and I won't get a bad nutrition, will I?" he winked. Jenna just laughed.

"You won't, Stefan." Jenna promised.

Elena looked at him disbelief. She was regret because she made him skipped lunch but he didn't seem bought that. He was trying to make Elena happy. And yet for the truth… Stefan was _very_ hungry. Like, _very, very hungry_.

"Okay then, let's eat." Jenna said. She gave Elena the code. 'Give Stefan some rice to his plate' code. Elena nodded and followed Jenna's code. Stefan mouthed thank you and let Elena to place the beefs and potatoes. Then she gave him a bowl of soup.

Stefan ate eagerly. He was hungry and the foods were very delicious. "Hmm… what is this?" he asked as he pointed his beefs.

"That's named rendang, Stefan. Beefs." Elena answered. "That's number one of Indonesian's foods." she answered proudly.

"Who made this?"

"Jenna." she looked at her aunt, smiling. "That tastes good, doesn't it?"

"Very." he winked. "How about this?" he pointed the potatoes.

"That one is named sambal goreng kentang. Potatoes. I hope it doesn't taste very hot for you."

"No, it's not. It's good. And who made this?"

"Elena." Jenna quickly answered. Stefan literally turned his face to see Elena. But she was looked down. She was kinda embarrassed.

"This is also delicious. And it's perfect." he said politely. Elena lifted her face and looked at him. Her face turned red and smiled nervously as she mouthed thank you.

"And she also made the soup, Stefan." Jenna informed. "Try it."

Stefan took a spoon and sipped the soup. His face was surprised. "This is the best soup I've ever tasted."

Jenna and Elena laughed out loud in all of sudden. Stefan smiled but curious. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing, you're just funny, Stefan. Like you've never eaten a soup before."

This time, Stefan laughed too. "No, I'm serious. I've never tasted it before. It's different."

"Of course, it's different. Besides it's an Indonesian recipe, my mother also gave me a secret ingredient. That's why it tastes different from other soups." Elena explained. Stefan just nodded and took another sip of his soup. Both of Elena and Jenna were happy that Stefan liked the foods. Then they continued their dinner.

**Elena's bedroom…**

Elena was looking at her and Arden photo near her desk when Stefan knocked the opened door. She turned to see him and put the photo back on the desk.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I just… I'm afraid that something is up with you." Stefan said.

Elena smiled. "No, no. I'm the one who supposed to apologize. I was rude left you downstairs." she answered as she walked to take her medicine box on her bed.

"May I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." she nodded, sitting on her bed and began to drink her medicines. He walked towards her desk and saw that photo again. He was dying to know who he was.

"Who is this?" he asked, pointing the guy on the photo.

Elena looked at it and suddenly felt sad. Stefan noticed that and put that down again. Then he stepped closer and knelt in front of her. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Elena shook her head. "No, that's okay. I'm just sad because I miss him so much."

"Sorry, is he your boyfriend?"

"If he is my boyfriend, I won't let myself have a feeling for you, Stefan." she answered frontally.

Stefan smiled a little. "Yeah, I forgot. So do you mind to tell me about him?"

"Not at all. Come here." Elena patted the mattress beside her. Stefan nodded and sat there as he looked at Elena. "His name is Arden."

"Arden?"

"Yep, why?"

"It sounds familiar."

"You knew him?"

"No. I've never met him before." Elena just nodded. She didn't know that Stefan had dreams about her with Arden in a few nights. And this was scared him off. His name was really Arden. So his dreams were real? Were those signing something?

"He is my best friend. I knew him since I moved to Indonesia. His house was in front of mine."

Stefan smiled and nodded. He just heard and concerned on whatever Elena said. He never cut her words off. He was just letting Elena filled him with her best friend's story. And from there, he knew that she didn't in love with him. She just considered him as best friend and an older brother. But he knew that Arden loved Elena. There was something in Elena's story that proved it. But she didn't realize that. Maybe that's also because Arden never said that he loved her.

"And now he hates me because I moved back here."

Stefan furrowed. "No way."

"Yes way. He never replied my e-mails. I'm sure he already read that."

"Maybe he was just angry with you, Elena. I think he would never hate you."

"You seem so sure, Stefan. Like, you already knew him before. But I hope it's true."

"No, I'm not sure. But, I'm a man. I think I just know how he feels."

"Feels what?"

"That you disappointed him."

Elena looked at her hands, feeling sad again. Stefan sighed and placed his fingers on her chin to lift her face.

"Hey, I'm sorry."

Elena shook her head but couldn't hold her tears anymore. The tears quickly fell on her cheeks. Stefan cupped her face and wiped her tears with his thumbs. "At least I'm here, Elena. Maybe I'm not him, I can't make you feel the same just like he did. But I'll try to be better for you. I'll always be here for you. You can come to me, tell me and show me everything that you want. Okay?"

Her tears fell harder on her cheeks as she nodded. She couldn't say anything. She just felt comfortable when she heard Stefan's words. He promised her something important, meaning something for her. And that was for real. Then Stefan pulled her into his embrace. He let she cried and soaked his shirt. But he didn't mind. He was happy because that meant she believed him. She trusted him. And that was he wanted.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Thank you for today, Stefan." Elena said as she opened the door and walked out of the house behind him. Stefan turned to see her.

"No, thank you Elena. You're amazing at cook." he said, causing Elena's face turned to red. She just smiled and nodded. "Say goodbye to Jenna for me, will you?"

"Sure."

"Okay." he smiled again and turned around. He walked to leave her porch when she called him.

"Stefan…"

He stopped and turned to see her again. "Yeah?"

Elena bit her lips and ran to him. She placed her hands around his neck and kissed him. Stefan was surprised but didn't take much time to think to kiss her back. They kissed slowly yet eagerly. When she pulled away to catch a breath, she leaned her forehead to his and smiled. Stefan looked at her eyes closely and smiled too.

But suddenly she pulled herself from his embrace and felt guilty.

"No, no, no. I'm sorry. It didn't have to be like this."

Stefan's smile faded and furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Elena couldn't see his eyes and just looked down. "Katherine is sick."

Stefan scuffed. "Katherine? Is that really what you afraid of?"

She lifted her face. "I'm not afraid of her. But I have to respect her. She is your ex, Stefan."

"Exactly. She is my ex and I don't love her anymore."

Elena shook her head. But Stefan didn't give up.

"She's not you, Elena. You're the one that I love now."

"But she's sick…" Stefan cut her words and pulled her closer to kiss her again. Elena didn't pull herself but closed her eyes and kissed him back.

"Don't you dare to think about her again." Stefan warned as he pulled away.

Elena smiled and nodded weakly. "I love you."

Stefan's eyes went wide as he heard she said it. "I love you too." he answered and kissed her again.

When they thought that he had to go home, they pulled away from each other.

"It's time for me to go."

"I suppose." Elena chuckled.

"Goodnight." Stefan said, leaning in to give her a quick peck on the lips.

"Goodnight." she let go of his neck and caressed his cheeks. He smiled and turned around and walked towards his car. Elena just looked at his back and smiled. She wanted to cry because she was too happy. Because she finally realized that her love for Stefan was real. She could feel it. And he knew about that. For the most important thing, he loved her back. She waved her hand when Stefan honked her once as he drove his car. Then she walked inside her house with the widest smile that she ever had.

Yes. They were officially together now.

**A/N : So what do you think? I apologize for my grammar :P and I'll try to update soon. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N : Haha I thought that you didn't like my last chapter because I [was afraid that - I] forced Stefan/Elena to happened. But I'm glad that you liked it. Thank you for the support and reviews! About Elena who was worried that Stefan could get sick because he skipped lunch, maybe for some people it's weird. But for Elena, she was worried that Stefan [maybe] had a digestive system problem. So if he didn't eat, he would have something trouble. Or my imagination was too much? Hahaha sorry for that. xD**

** By the way, have you seen the new episode of TVD? I haven't watched the full of it yet but I've seen Stelena scenes and those were truly beautiful. They didn't need to do 'something hot and steamy' to explore their feelings towards each other. I loved each of Stelena scenes and especially when he said "you look beautiful" and "you have me" to Elena. That two was so emotional and as I said, beautiful. And that gave me so much hope for them after all of this craziness that happened to both of them. :)**

** Okay then, enjoy this chapter.**

"Elena, Stefan is coming!" Jenna yelled.

"One minute!" Elena yelled back from the upstairs. Jenna just shook her head and asked Stefan to come in and wait in the living room. Stefan nodded and smiled. She went back to the desk which was not far from him to continue her work. Stefan sat on the couch and tapped his phone, kinda impatient.

"Are you gonna be late?" Jenna asked, turning her face to see him.

"No. Why?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. You just look nervous."

"Do I?"

"Uh-huh."

Stefan almost answered her when he heard Elena came. He turned his face to see her. She looked beautiful as always, but a little pale. He literally got up and walked towards her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"You sure? You look a bit pale." he said, still examining her face.

"I'm fine. Come on, we're gonna be late." she smiled, reassuring her worried (new) boyfriend.

"No, no. You have to eat something for breakfast first." Jenna suddenly said.

Elena looked at her aunt and furrowed. "We're almost late."

"At least grab something and eat that in the car."

"Jenna is right. I'll be waiting here." Stefan told her, caressing her back. "Go grab something for breakfast."

Elena sighed. "Fine." then she went to the kitchen. Both of Jenna and Stefan just looked at her.

"She seems happy."

"Yeah, I can see that." he smiled. Jenna might be realized that he seemed happy too.

"Keep her safe, Stefan. I know you can do that."

"I'll do my best, Jenna."

Jenna just nodded. After a few moments, Elena went out of the kitchen.

"Are you ready?" Elena asked Stefan and grabbed her bag on the couch.

"Yep. Let's go."

"Good bye, Jenna. See you later." she said as she walked towards Jenna and kissed her cheek.

"Good bye. Be careful." she greeted back. Stefan opened the door for Elena and nodded to Jenna as he walked outside and closed the door.

He ran a little and once he walked beside her, he automatically grabbed her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. Elena just looked at him and smiled. When they were in front of his car, he opened the door for her and let she hopped in. After that he went to his side and hopped in too.

"Let's go." she said as she wore her safety belt. But instead of answered her, Stefan leaned in to kiss her. Elena was surprised but smiled as she kissed him back.

"What's that for?" she asked as he pulled back.

"A good morning kiss." he winked and turned the machine on. He wanted to do that since she went downstairs. Elena just chuckled and shook her head. Stefan looked at her curiously. "What?"

"You're cheesy."

Stefan laughed. "But you love me anyways."

"Who said that I love you?" Stefan gulped. She looked so serious. Elena saw his afraid face and laughed out loud in all of sudden. She changed her position to get closer to him and cupped his face. "I'm just kidding. Of course I love you." she said and kissed him once more. "Now go, before we're really late." she said again as she pulled away.

Stefan sighed, feeling relief. "Don't do that again, Elena." he said, caressing her head lovingly.

"Okay." she answered.

"Okay." he agreed then drove his car to school.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Hello, Matt."

Matt stopped walking and without turning back, he asked. "What do you want Katherine?"

"I want Stefan." she laughed at her own words.

"Then go to find him." he said with an icy tone. He never liked her so he tried to make a bad impression to her. He began to continue his steps when she stopped him again.

"Wait! I can't find him. So I wanted to ask you where he is. He should have been here since 10 minutes ago."

"I don't know. I'm not his babysitter. Just wait here if you want okay? I have to go now." he told her as he walked towards the school's door. Katherine didn't say anything. She just sighed and began walk towards a long chair when she saw Stefan's car came and parked a bit far from her place. She almost ran to him but stopped when she saw Stefan was opening a door for someone. She tried to look at it clearly.

"Who is that?" she narrowed her eyes. Then she gasped angrily when she realized that was Elena. "That bitch! How dare she is!" she yelled. People around her literally turned to look at her. But she didn't mind to look at them back. She was too angry for now. She just stood there and watched Stefan and Elena entered the building together.

**15 minutes later…**

"I hate this." Stefan said as he leaned back to one of lockers near Elena's, crossing his arms over his chest. Elena looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Hate what?"

"Hate the fact that I don't have any same classes with you. Not even one." he sighed.

Elena just smiled a little and closed her locker. "Your act is too much."

"This is not an act, Elena. I'm just expressing what I feel."

Elena laughed at his honesty. "You're just like a kid, Stefan."

"Well, if you said so…" he said, leaning to her. But she stopped her.

"Uh, what are you doing?" she asked as she placed her hand on his chest to stop him. He stopped and leaned back.

"No kiss in public?" he asked disappointedly.

Elena shook her head. "At least wait until people know that we're together now." she smiled and winked. But Stefan just groaned.

"That's still too long. And you know, if we kissed, they would know about that from now." he tried and leaned again to her. Elena quickly placed her hand on Stefan's mouth.

"Hold that thought, Mr. Salvatore."

Stefan groaned again, giving up. "Okay, I'll wait." he said hopelessly. Elena smiled again and pinched his cheek.

"You're so funny when you're kinda hopeless."

"I'm hopeless." he answered, quickly kissed her cheek before she could stop him. Her eyes went wide as she caressed her cheek, right where Stefan just kissed and looked around. Fortunately, there were not many people around.

"You're bad." she said playfully, her face turning red.

"People won't agree with you about that." he winked, feeling satisfied because at least he could kiss her cheek. In public, especially.

She just glared at him. "Yeah okay then. Let's go to the class." she said. Stefan just nodded as he laughed and followed her behind. But they didn't realize that someone was spying on them.

"Ah so they're together now. Good news for you, Elena. You'll be dead." she said, smiling evilly as she still looked at the new couple. "This is gonna be fun."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Elena sat on a chair near the window at the cafeteria. She was waiting for Stefan. When she looked around, she saw Matt and Caroline sat not far from her. They were laughing at something. When she almost threw her eyes from them, she saw Caroline waved her hand to her. She just smiled and waved a little.

"Ah what a happy couple." someone said, causing Elena gasped and turned her face to see the owner of the voice. "Hello, Elena."

"Katherine." she said as she watched Katherine sat on the chair in front of her.

"You seem surprised to see me."

"That's because you suddenly appeared." Elena answered, trying to calm herself down.

"That's not important. Let's get the point here. Why are so stubborn?"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't pretend, Elena. I know you and Stefan are together now. Aren't you?"

Elena looked down and nodded weakly.

"Too bad that you didn't want to hear my words. Something will happen to you. And _Stefan_."

"Something like what?" suddenly Elena heard Stefan's voice. She literally tilted her head and saw Stefan was standing behind Katherine. And Katherine was surprised as well. She stood and turned to face Stefan.

"Hello gorgeous." she greeted as she smiled seductively. But Stefan didn't buy it.

"Why are you here? And what do you mean with something will happen to me and Elena?" he asked, his eyes were burning hers.

"Did I say that?" she asked, pretending to be innocent. "Maybe you heard the wrong thing, Stefan. Hey Elena, did I say that?" she turned to see Elena, using that chance to tortured her. Elena just shook her head weakly, didn't brave to see Katherine and Stefan's eyes. Katherine turned back to see Stefan. "See? Elena agreed with me."

"I don't believe you."

Katherine shrugged. "Whatever. Bye now, Stefan. _Elena_." she pressured her tone when she called Elena. Stefan just shook his head when Katherine was leaving the cafeteria. He looked at Elena who still ducked her head. He sat beside her and tilted her face.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Elena bit her lips and nodded weakly.

"Sorry for that, Elena. She's always rude to everyone. Don't think about her okay?" he said as he caressed her cheeks. Elena just smiled. "You look paler now. Have you eaten something?"

"Not yet. I was waiting for you."

Stefan shook his head. "No, Elena. Next time you don't have to wait for me. If you want to eat, you can eat without me. Promise?"

"Okay, I promise." she said.

"Good. Wait here, I'm gonna buy some foods for you."

"No, Stefan. Let me."

"No. You wait here." Stefan warned her. She couldn't say anything else. Then she just nodded, letting Stefan bought some foods for both of them.

**7 minutes later…**

"What's your last class?" Stefan asked as he handed the food to Elena and sat on his chair.

"Biology. Why?"

"Mr. Bold? Did he give tasks that have to be collected today?"

"Yes." she answered, a little curious.

"Have you done it? Give it to me."

"Of course." then she picked it from her bag and gave it to him.

"Good. Wait here. I'm not gonna be long."

"Wait, Stefan…" but he already ran out of the cafeteria. She sighed heavily and just waited for him.

Not for a long time, Stefan came back.

"It's perfect. Let's go." he said, grabbing Elena's hand and held it until she stood.

"Where are we going?"

"Talk outside."

**Parking lot…**

"Okay, can you please tell me where are we going?"

"You look pale since this morning and I want to take you to some place that can make you fresh."

"But I still have class. So do you."

"Doesn't matter. I already have the permission for me and you."

"No, no, no. We can't skip the last class just because I look pale. I'm fine." she said as she turned around to go back to school. Stefan quickly grabbed her shoulder to stop her.

"Please, just once. Believe me, everything is fine. We can borrow our friend's notes. Okay? I'm just worried about you."

"But I'm fine."

"Just trust me. Please?" he begged and Elena couldn't stand it.

She turned around to see Stefan. "Fine. Just once. Today. No more skipping class."

"Yes." he smiled and led Elena to his car.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

30 minutes later, Stefan and Elena arrived at a park. It's out of the town. And there were no people, although that was a good park. Stefan held Elena's hand and led her to somewhere behind the high thickets. She gasped when she saw a lot of wild flowers there. She literally ran and spun around just like a kid found a cookie house. Stefan smiled as he saw that. She didn't look so pale like before. Then he picked a grass and lay on the land not far from Elena. She was still expressing her happiness. He turned his face to look at the sky and slowly closed his eyes. He felt sleepy in all of sudden.

"This is so great, Stefan!" Elena yelled and looked at him who was sleeping not far from her. "Stefan?" she called again as she walked closer to him. She squatted near him and caressed his closed eyes and hair. She was looking at him adoringly. Didn't take much time, she pulled his arms and placed her head there as she laid beside him. Suddenly Stefan pulled her closer and moved to face her. Elena could feel Stefan's warm breaths on her forehead.

"Thank you, Stefan."

"For what?" he asked sleepily.

"For taking me here. It's so beautiful."

He chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Anytime, my love." Elena felt butterflies attacked her tummy when she heard Stefan said that. She just smiled and closed her eyes to enjoy the moment.

**A few moments later…**

Elena felt something warm on her nose. When she opened her eyes, Stefan was kissing it. She smiled and pushed his face playfully.

"Uh, Elena. Don't do that."

"You, _don't do that_, Stefan." she chuckled and woke up slowly. "What time is it?"

Stefan looked at his watch. "3 PM. We still have much time here."

Elena looked at him and nodded. "I think so." Stefan woke up, sat behind her then pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. Elena leaned back to his chest and held his arms. "So do you care to fill me in how did you find this place?"

Stefan leaned his head into Elena's. "I used to have picnics with my family here when I was a kid. My father found this place."

"Ah, sweet memories."

"Yeah, I know."

"Do you still come here regularly?"

"Twice after my parents' death. And this is the third with you."

She was speechless. All she could do was caressed his hand and he kissed her hair. "That's okay though. I'm glad you're here with me." he said again and hugged her tighter.

"We should have a picnic here next time." she suddenly said, her eyes were excited as she turned to see him.

Stefan smiled and nodded. "That'd be awesome."

"We can invite Damon, Bonnie, Matt, Caroline. And… Um maybe Katherine."

Stefan furrowed his eyebrows disbelief. "Katherine? I don't want her with us."

"Yeah, I guess me too." Elena turned around again and leaned back to his chest. Then she played Stefan's fingers.

"Speaking of Matt…" Stefan hung his words, he was doubt to ask.

"Yeah?"

"How's him with you?"

Elena sighed but kept playing his fingers. "He told me that he loved me."

Stefan scoffed. "Really? When?"

"4 days ago."

"Ah so he was the first."

"Yes."

"So how did you say no to him?"

"He was sure that I loved you before I said no."

"How did he know? And do you seriously love me?"

"I don't know, he told me that he just had that feeling." she sighed. "Hmm about that, I'll think about it."

"Ouch. That's harsh." Stefan said, suddenly released her and tickled her instead. She was laughing so hard and tried to escape from Stefan but she fell onto the land.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry." she said, still trying to escape from him but he held her too tight. He kept tickling her until she cried with laughter. But finally he let go of her. Then she sat in front of him and pouted. "You're cheating. You hold me too tight so I can't stop you."

"I'm not cheating. I'm just stronger than you are." he pointed Elena's nose and laughed.

"Yeah, I'm _weak_." she claimed, somewhat looked serious. But Stefan didn't notice it.

"Hmm I think it is especially when I do this." he said, leaning in and pushing her until she laid on the land again and he was on top of her. Elena laughed a little but Stefan quickly shut her up with giving her one of those searing kisses. When he pulled back, they both looked at each other closely. "Thank you, Elena."

Elena raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"For moving back here so I could meet and love you."

Her eyes got all teary in all of sudden. He sounded cheesy, but that was so cute. She just nodded and chuckled nervously.

"I'm glad too, Stefan." she caressed his cheek. "I'm glad that I can meet you too."

"That's good." he whispered and leaned to kiss her forehead.

Elena closed her eyes as Stefan did that and answered his words in her mind. "Yeah, that's definitely good."

**A/N : I'm sorry if it's too cheesy and not good for you. But may I still get some reviews?**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N : I know it's been too long. Like really, TOO long. I'm so sorry. ;(**

Stefan groaned a little when he felt something ruined his sleep. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Elena giggled as she poked his nose with a long dry leaf. Stefan closed his eyes again and stirred his body away from her. "Mmm. Don't do that." he sighed. She giggled louder and placed herself on Stefan's chest.

"I'm sorry honey, but if I don't do that, you're not gonna wake up until next week." she answered, caressing his strong cheek-bones. He opened his eyes again and furrowed his eyebrows.

"You're too much, Elena." he chuckled and reached up to capture Elena's lips. Once. Twice.

"You like me anyways." she said, making that clear. "Come on, we have to get out of here. I'm hungry." By that, Stefan checked his watch and saw it was dinner time.

"Wow time flew fast." he sighed and moved from Elena a little and then stood. "Let's go." he said, helping Elena stood with her own feet. They walked to his car with holding hands. Elena's free hand gripped Stefan's arms just to make them more closer. He didn't mind that. In fact, he loved it. It made him somewhat happy. "What do you want to eat?" he asked her, tightening their intertwined fingers as they kept walking.

"Anything you want." she answered, placing her head on Stefan's shoulder. Stefan kissed her hair.

"Then the Grill will be great." he decided. They stopped in front of his car and opened the door for her. She mouthed thank you and hopped in. He quickly went to his side and drove his car to leave the park.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"We should dance."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Pretty please, love?" she begged, cupping his face. He locked eyes with her for a while then groaned. She smiled, knowing that she won.

"Alright, Bonnie. Just once." he pointed his finger in front of her. She hit his hand playfully and grabbed it with her own.

"Don't ever pointing your finger in front of me, Damon Salvatore." he only nodded and leaned in to give her a quick kiss then followed her behind to the dance floor.

Elena and Stefan entered the Grill, looking around to find an empty table. Then she saw Damon and Bonnie on the dance floor. She smiled and turned her face to Stefan. "Looks like we don't need to find a table, we can join them." she smiled, pointing Damon and Bonnie with her head. Stefan followed her direction and smiled too.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked. He wanted to dance with her in all of sudden. Elena widened her eyes, didn't believe what she heard.

"No, I meant we can join them, on their table." she answered, almost laughing at him. But when she saw his serious face and he began to pout, she felt terrible. She didn't expect that he was serious. "At least, after we dance."

Stefan's eyes automatically sparkled as she said that. She swore that it really happened. Then he grabbed Elena's hand and led her to where Damon and Bonnie were at. Bonnie was the first who saw them and called her brother in-law-to-be.

"Steffy!" she released one of her hands from Damon's shoulder, waving them to Stefan. He smiled widely as he walked towards them. Damon turned his face to see his brother and grinned when he realized that he was with Elena. Stefan stopped near them and placed his hands on around Elena's waist and her hands were on his neck. They danced slowly, following the music rhythm.

"What?" Elena asked shyly to Stefan who was looking at her closely. Stefan smiled and shook his head. He kept staring at her, wondering why he would be so lucky to have her. Elena, couldn't stand his act, tucked her face between Stefan's neck and shoulder and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment.

"You're beautiful." he whispered and kissed her ear which made her shivered a little. She tightened her hands and kissed his shoulder, proving that she heard that and accepted the good compliment. They kept dancing slowly until the music changed into one of disco music. Stefan released his hands from Elena and looked around. People were crazy on dancing. Then suddenly Bonnie pulled him to her direction. He locked his eyes with Elena apologetically. She nodded, understanding that he was bonding with Bonnie. In a good way, of course.

"Excuse me, Miss. I see you're alone here. Are you lost or something?" Damon asked, standing behind her. Elena turned around and smiled.

"No, Mr. Salvatore. I'm fine."

"Do you want to dance?" he asked again, wondering if she would dance with him. He wouldn't mind. Elena shook her head carefully, studying his face. She didn't want to disappoint him but she didn't want to dance anymore either.

"Okay then. Let's go to our table. We can talk." he smiled, pointing their table. She nodded and made her steps to the table when Damon suddenly met someone he knew and talked with him for a little while. She sat on a chair and threw her eyes to Stefan and Bonnie, watching their bonding closely. Stefan smiled a lot as they talked. She didn't know about what that was, but it made her smile as well.

"Anything you'd like to drink, Elena?" Damon asked, sitting in front of her. "I'll buy."

"I want to eat something to be honest. I'm here for dinner." she answered as she tore her eyes from Stefan and Bonnie to Damon.

"Oh, let me see. Here's special menu is chic and chips. You should try it." he gave her a suggestion. She only nodded.

"I'll wait for Stefan then order it."

"Okay." he agreed. Elena's eyes were back to Stefan and Bonnie and Damon realized that. He turned around and looked at them too and said, "Don't be jealous, Elena. Bonnie would never cheat on me with my brother."

Elena surprised that Damon suddenly said that and quickly looked at him. "No, I don't mind that. I just love the fact that they're close enough and have a good time together."

"Bonnie considered Stefan as her brother since I brought her home. I don't know why but they were fast on bonding." he shrugged.

"That's good to know. Stefan once said to me that Bonnie is a lovable girl. She influences positive energy to everyone near her." By that, Damon laughed. Elena furrowed her eyebrows, wondering if she said a funny thing. "What?"

"Nothing. Uh Stefan was right. Bonnie is lovable. I fell so hard for her since I met her for the first time. It wasn't a good memory though, but that was the one that made me love her." Elena dropped her jaw as he said that. She never thought that Damon was _that_ man who would fall for a girl so hard. Even though she was barely knew him. "So tell me, are you and Stefan a thing now?" he changed the topic as he put his arms on the table and smiled teasingly.

She blushed and looked down at her feet. "Yes."

"Since when?" he asked casually, now sipping his drink.

Elena looked at him again and answered, "3 days ago."

He nodded, learning her answer. "Well, we should celebrate it then." he winked again.

"Celebrate what?" Stefan asked curiously, he was standing behind Damon and quickly sat beside Elena.

"That you're with her now." Damon answered, smirking winningly. Bonnie, who was taking a seat beside him, slapped his upper arms playfully. "What?"

"Don't say anything."

"I just said…"

"Shut up."

"You're hurting me, Bonnie." she automatically glanced at him and pinched his cheek.

"You look cute, babe." she said, still pinching his cheek. That made both of Stefan and Elena laughed. While Damon and Bonnie were still 'playing', Stefan moved a little to look at Elena.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked, tucked her loose hair behind her ear.

"Damon said that Grill's special menu is chic and chips. I'd love to try that."

"Mmm. Good choice." Stefan agreed. "Bonnie, do you want to order something?" She literally stopped pinching Damon and looked at Stefan.

"I want a slice of choco-banana cake."

"Okay. You Damon?"

"I'll order it by myself. Let's go." he said, caressing Bonnie's hair for a while then standing from his seat and walked out of the table. Stefan stood as well and followed him behind.

"Stefan!" Elena yelled. "I want a bottle of mineral water!" Stefan looked at her and nodded then went to the food bar. Both of Elena and Bonnie looked at their lovely boys for a while. Then Bonnie asked something to her.

"Do you love him?"

"What?" Elena asked, a bit lost with Bonnie's question.

"Stefan. Do you love him?" she asked once again and looked at Elena's reaction.

This took a little time to answer it but then she said, "Yes, I do." Bonnie smiled at this and grabbed Elena's hand.

"That's good, Elena. He loves you too, you know that? He couldn't stop talking about you when we're dancing." Bonnie added. "Don't disappoint my brother, okay? He's a good guy."

Elena bit her lips. There was one big thing that no one knew except her and Jenna. And that thing would disappoint everyone once they know, especially Stefan. "Elena?" Bonnie called. She shook her head a little.

"No, I don't want to disappoint him. He always makes me happy. And I'll try my best to make him happy as well."

Bonnie nodded. "I'm sure you want to do it. Thank you so much, Elena." Elena smiled a little, not knowing what she should've said more. Right then, Stefan and Damon came back. Damon sat again beside Bonnie, placing his arm around her neck as he pulled her closer and asked,

"What are you two talking about?"

Stefan sat as he put his jacket near Elena and looked at her. She was blushing which made him sure that they were talking about him. He just got the feeling. He took Elena's hand and caressed it, calming her down. She smiled at him and quickly threw her gaze to another place as she heard Damon cleared his throat, completely teasing them.

"That's okay if you want to kiss in front of us, we can pretend that it doesn't happen." he said, more teasing them. Stefan smirked as he heard that words.

"Sorry, big bro, that's our privacy. No one is allowed to see it."

Damon scoffed. "Speaking of privacy, did you know that he's writing a journal, Elena?" he turned to see Elena.

"No, I didn't know that." she looked at Stefan, still surprised by Damon's words. "He hasn't told me yet."

"Hey! Writing a journal isn't a bad thing." Stefan said, trying to defend himself. Elena smiled and placed her other hand on top of Stefan's.

"That's okay, Stefan. No one said that it is bad. Actually, I was mesmerized because there's someone who still writing in a journal. And that someone is you." Her words made his heart fluttered. He smiled widely and brought his free hand to Elena's head, caressing it slightly.

"Thank you." he mouthed her. Then the waitress came brought their foods. No one talked after that. They were too busy with their own food.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Knock. Knock.

"Comin'!" Jenna yelled as she heard someone knocked the door. She ran a little from the kitchen and quickly opened the door as soon as she reached the knob.

"Hello, Jenna."

"Oh my God." she was speechless and froze. When she could feel herself again, she brought her hands to cover her mouth and her eyes started to get teary. She didn't expect that she would meet him at her house. Tonight. In America. "Jeremy!" she suddenly threw her arms around him that almost made both of them fell. She sighed happily as she tightened her hug. "I've missed you so much."

Jeremy chuckled and hugged her back. "I've missed you too, Jenna."

"You're here alone? How? Why?" she asked, pulling herself from him and wiped her tears. Then she caressed her nephew's cheeks. She missed him a lot. The last time they met was when he's only 5 and Elena was 7.

"I came here by myself, auntie. And I want to spend my 2 weeks holiday." he answered. "Uh may I come in?" he asked playfully. Jenna a bit surprised to hear that, she was too excited to see him came.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course! I'm so sorry I'm too happy that you're here." she stepped back and let him in then closed the door. "Have anything for dinner yet?"

Jeremy put his suitcase and small bag near the couch. "Not yet. Did you cook?" he looked around and smiled a little. This house had a lot of memories of his family. His parents.

"No. You didn't tell me that you're coming. Let's order then."

"Thai?"

"Sure."

"Wait, where's Elena? I didn't hear her voice since I entered the house."

"She's out."

"No way." Jeremy denied, looking at Jenna unbelievably. "She wouldn't brave to go out in the nights." Jenna only smiled.

"No worries, Jer. She's with Stefan." she patted his shoulder as she made her steps to her phone on the table near him.

"Who's Stefan?"

"Her boyfriend."

"What?" he practically yelled that surprised her.

"You scared me, Jeremy. Don't worry, he's a very good guy. He can protect her."

"Not like that…" he stopped, clearly didn't know what more to say.

"Then what?"

"Nothing. We can talk about it later. I want to take a shower before the dinner comes." he said, quickly grabbed his things and brought them to his room upstairs. It wouldn't be good.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Oh come on! It's not midnight yet!" Damon groaned. They were playing truth or dare when Elena suddenly wanted to go home before it's too late. She didn't want to make Jenna worry. She felt terrible as she heard Damon's groan.

"I'm so sorry, Damon. I have to go home. I don't want to make my aunt worry." she said, wearing her jacket. Stefan stood behind her, helping her to wear it. Bonnie looked at her apologetically.

"Don't hear him, Elena. You should go though. It's a school night." Elena nodded. Stefan caressed her shoulder, calming her.

"I had a very good night with all of you. Thank you. See you later, Bonnie." she walked towards Bonnie and hugged her. "See you, Damon." she looked at him, nodded once.

"We had a special night with you too, Elena. We should do this again next time." Bonnie answered.

"Yeah, it can be arranged." she answered as she grabbed her bag on the chair and looked at Stefan. "I'm ready."

He smiled a little. "Let's go." Then he threw her gaze at his brother and the fiancé. "See you later." he said, turning around and grabbing Elena's hand to pull her out of the Grill.

"Bye." Both of them said and waved their hands. They didn't want to leave the Grill before they got drunk. Because they thought if they're drunk, they would spend the rest of the night with sex. Drunk-passionate sex. Oh well…

"Are you sure that Jenna wouldn't be mad at you?" Stefan asked as they walked to his car.

"Don't worry, I already texted her. The good point is she trusts you enough to bring me home."

"Isn't it good?" he asked, smiling widely. She smiled too and tucked her tongue out of her mouth. Stefan bumped Elena's shoulder with his playfully and she pushed him away as she laughed. Today was amazing for both of them.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Why the hell is Elena not coming yet?" Jeremy looked at the clock and crossed his arms. It was 10.20 PM.

"Just relax, Jer. She's on the way home."

"Yeah? How do you know that?"

Jenna shrugged. "My feeling." He automatically looked at her disbelief. "Hey, don't look at me like that. My feeling is always right, you know. Just wait."

He grumbled and turned his face to the door. He couldn't wait for her any longer. He missed her a lot, yes. Even though it's not 2 months yet after she moved. But he also wanted to know about Stefan from her mouth as soon as she came. He still believed that she shouldn't have moved back here and had a boyfriend. What about _him_?

15 minutes later…

Stefan turned his car machine off as soon as he stopped in front of her house. He turned to Elena's seat and saw that she was sleeping. He didn't want to wake her up but they already arrived. Half heartedly, he poked her side slowly.

"Elena, we're home, baby." she didn't move. "Elena, wake up. We're here." he kept trying to wake her up until she moved her head slightly and opened her eyes. Stefan smiled as he caressed her cheek. "We're home."

"Whose?" she furrowed her eyebrows, looking at the car window and saw her house as she unbuckled her safety belt. "Never mind." she said again, too embarrassed to look at him. She was afraid that he thought she wanted him to take her to his house.

Chuckling, he answered, "It's yours." Elena blushed as she finally looked at him. Stefan only smiled and leaned in to kiss her gently. "Thank you for today." he murmured and pulled away.

Without opening her eyes, she wrapped her arms on Stefan's neck, wanting another kiss. "I'm not finished on kissing you yet." she said playfully, pulling his head until her lips touched his once again.

"Mmm." Stefan clearly enjoyed the moment. He could feel Elena's smirk on his lips. He pulled away again and looked at her eyes closely.

"What?" she asked, placing her hands on Stefan's face to make him stop looking at her. He caught her hands and brought them down.

"I love you." he said without hesitation. She looked at his eyes, trying to find the sign if he was kidding. But she didn't find anything but seriousness. She nodded.

"I know." she said, smiling happily. "I love you too." Stefan cupped her face and kissed her forehead with all of love that he had for her. Once he had done, she looked back to her house. "So I guess I have to go there now. It's getting late."

Stefan followed her gaze and nodded. "I suppose." then he hopped out of his car, walking to her side to open the car door and helped her hopped out. She mouthed thank you that only rewarded with a nod. They walked slowly towards her house's door. When they were finally in front of it, Stefan stood behind her and she turned around to face him.

"Thank you for today, Stefan. I had a very great day."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Elena."

Elena nodded. Then she had an internal debate to kiss him good night or not because they had kissed a lot today. But Stefan made the move first. He lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger to kiss her. "Good night. Sweet dreams." he said as he pulled away and caressed her cheeks before he released her.

"Good night, Stefan." she smiled as she opened the door and walked in. Before she closed the door, she looked at him once again and he waved his hand once. Then he turned around and began to walk to his car.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Stefan was on his way to get home when suddenly his phone buzzed. Someone was calling but he didn't know whose number that was when he looked at the screen.

"Hello?"

"Stefan Salvatore?"

"Yeah. Who is this?"

"It's Bryan Pierce."

"Oh Mr. Pierce, I'm sorry I didn't know your number. What happened?"

"That's okay. Uh it's about Katherine. I need you to do a favor."

**A/N : Uh oh something has happened with Katherine…**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N : Hope this story doesn't make you feel sick or something.**

"You seem happy." Jenna stated as she looked at her niece near the door. "Did Stefan bring you home?" Elena turned around and quickly hugged Jenna.

"Yes, yes I'm so happy!" she said, smiling widely. "And yeah Stefan brought me home." she said again, pulling away from Jenna.

"So I guess you had fun with him all day?" Jenna teased as she lingered her arms around Elena's shoulder and led her to sit on the couch.

"Yes!" Elena squirmed. "He was amazing, Jenna. He brought me to a beautiful park to make me feel much better. And it worked." she blushed slightly.

"He cared about you that much."

Elena smiled awkwardly. "You think so?"

"Of course, you silly. If he didn't, he wouldn't be your boyfriend and let you be happy." Jenna answered, pointing Elena's head. "I'm glad that he makes you happy. Hope it'd last long."

Elena hugged Jenna again and whispered, "Thank you Jenna. That means a lot to me." Jenna caressed her hair and kissed her cheek.

"Go to sleep honey. It's still a school night."

Elena nodded as she pulled away. "See you tomorrow." she said, standing up from the couch and went upstairs.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Stefan ran straight to the emergency room and entered it. No Katherine there. She might have been moved into a room. He walked out of there and ran again to the receptionist.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for Katherine Pierce's room."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Stefan Salvatore. Her father, Bryan Pierce called me to come."

"Ah yes, Mr. Pierce called here to tell that you might come soon. She's in Orchid room, from here you walk straight until you see the laboratory then turn right. 3 doors on the left." the nurse explained.

"Thank you." he said politely then began to run again to the room that the nurse said. Once he got there, he saw Katherine was sleeping and a nurse was checking her i.v line and blood transfusion. "How is she? Is she fine?" he asked to the nurse as he walked in.

"I hope so. Because the accident was terrible. She'll have an abdominal further examination tomorrow. The doctor is afraid for her having an internal bleeding."

"But will she wake up soon?"

"No. She needs to rest." the nurse cleaned the stuff and walked out, leaving Stefan alone with Katherine. He walked towards the bed and saw her face and hands were full of wound. He sat on the bed and looked at her closely.

"You make me worry, Katherine." he wasn't lying though. He actually still cared about her. But when she's being rude with Elena, his care feelings automatically went off. "Your father will be here as soon as he can." he said, secretly wishing she would answer. He sighed heavily and stood. He needed to refresh his mind. He looked at Katherine once again before he walked out of the room.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Hey happy girl." someone greeted. Elena stopped combing her hair and searched the voice's owner. Then she saw Jeremy leaned his back to her bathroom door. Jeremy smiled and walked towards her as she ran to hug him. "I missed you, sis." he whispered.

"I missed you too, Jer." she answered, feeling her eyes were teary. "How did you get here? All by yourself? Wait, you're not skipping your school, are you?" she asked as she pulled away and looked at him curiously.

Jeremy laughed. "I came here by myself. And I'm not skipping school, Elena. I'm on holiday. I had my final exams finished 2 days ago. Then I decided to stay here until it ends."

Elena smiled. "Yay! But I wish you would move here too, Jer."

"Who knows? Maybe the next time I come here, I'd bring all of my stuff."

She smiled even wider and walked to her bed and sat there. Jeremy followed, sitting beside her. "How is Indonesia?" she asked, starting a conversation.

"Hot as always." both of them chuckled. "And I was lonely since you moved back here."

"It's your fault. You didn't want to come with me." Elena teased. Jeremy looked at his feet, feeling sad in all of sudden. And it made Elena felt bad. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad." she said, caressing his shoulder.

"No, you're right though. I didn't want to come with you because I think Indonesia is my place. My right place to live at. And Mom and Dad are still there too."

"So I guess I'm the bad one because I left you, mom and dad." this time Elena was the one who looked down.

"No, Elena. This is what you want. Mom and Dad wouldn't be mad if it's what you wanted. You're a big girl now." Jeremy said, turned his face to see her. "Don't be broody, Elena." he said again, patting her back a bit hard that shocked her.

"Ouch!" she looked at him, playfully angry. "You'll be dead, Jeremy Gilbert." she said, preparing herself to pat his back.

"No, no I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he begged, trying to stand up but she held him.

"Nope until I give you this!" she yelled eagerly and patted his back harder than he did to her. Jeremy shouted out loud painfully and Elena was smiling widely. She was proud of herself.

"You hurt me, Elena." he stated as he caressed his back slowly. That was really _hurt_.

"You hurt me first. An eye for an eye, brother." she giggled.

"Lucky you're a girl and my sister." Jeremy said, now pinching her cheeks playfully.

"You must be proud of me."

"Who said that?" he looked at her disbelief.

"Me. I can see that in your eyes." she answered, pointing into his eyes.

"Oh please…" he chuckled. "By the way, I got something for you."

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Wait here." he said, standing up and walked into his room to get the present. Elena waited patiently as she looked at her phone. She wanted to call Stefan, just to say goodnight. But she thought he might be sleeping now. It's already past midnight. When she put her phone on her nightstand, Jeremy walked in. "Here." he handed the present as he walked towards her.

"What is this?"

"I don't know."

Elena looked at him confusedly. "You don't know?"

"No. That's not from me."

"Then from who is this?"

"Your beloved Arden."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Stefan was walking to Elena's porch when he saw someone stood in front of the door. He couldn't see his face but he thought he was familiar. He stopped in the middle of his way, trying to figure out who that was. Then suddenly Jenna opened the door and literally called Elena when she saw the guy. While waiting for her, Jenna and the guy were talking. They seemed knew each other. When Elena came, Jenna went back to the house and closed the door. She didn't see Stefan stood there.

Stefan felt strange. Why did Jenna not see him? He wasn't that far from the porch. She should've seen him. When he looked at Elena again, she was lingering her arms into the guy's and walked across the yard. She didn't see him either. So did the guy. He tried to call her but there was no voice. He couldn't make any voice. Then he tried to reach her but he couldn't move. He only could see them walked towards the guy's car.

And they kissed.

"Damn it Elena!" he yelled. This time, there was his voice but whether they didn't hear or didn't want to hear. He just stood there, couldn't do anything. He just looked at his girlfriend kissing the stranger guy. Wait, he's not the stranger guy. He knew who he was. He was her best friend.

The guy who named Arden.

…

Stefan opened his eyes widely and looked around. He tried to search Elena. But no one was there. Except Katherine and a nurse who was checking Katherine's i.v line.

"That's just a dream. That's just a dream." he said to himself, wiped the sweats from his forehead.

"Are you okay?" the nurse asked.

Stefan turned to see her. "Yeah I'm fine." Then he stood, walking towards Katherine's bed. "How is she?"

"Everything's normal for now."

"When will the doctor do the abdominal exam?"

"12 PM."

He automatically looked at his watch. Still 8 AM. He wasn't going to school today. But he forgot he hadn't told Elena yet about the favor. He picked his phone from his pocket, wanting to call her but his phone went off, lost of the battery. He cursed himself why did he not tell her last night before his phone went off. He sighed heavily then put it back in his pocket.

"I'll tell you when she has to do the examination." the nurse said to him then walked out of the room. Stefan only nodded and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Wake up soon, Katherine." he said as he caressed her hair.

**School…**

"Hey have you seen Stefan?" Elena asked to one of his football friends.

"Nope. I haven't met him yet today." he answered. Elena sighed and thanked him before went to her class. Caroline saw her in the middle of her way and ran to her.

"Hey! What's wrong Elena? You seem upset."

"Have you seen Stefan, Care?"

"Stefan? No. Why?"

"I'm afraid something is up on him. His phone is off and no one knows where he is."

"Have you called his brother?"

"I don't know his number."

"Hmm how about this afternoon I'll drive you to his house, to check him by yourself?"

Elena sighed sadly and nodded. "That'd be great. Thank you Caroline."

"Don't be sad, Elena." she said, caressing her shoulder. "Let's go." she grabbed Elena's hand and led her to the class.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It's already 3 PM. The nurses just brought Katherine back to her room after the examination. Stefan didn't go anywhere, didn't do anything. He was all worried about her.

"Why did the doctor take so long?" he asked to the nurses.

"The doctor needed to do a few examinations. MRI for her brain, X-ray for her bones and the last was abdominal exam."

"So how's the result?"

"The doctor is still learning it."

"Oh. Thanks."

The nurses walked out again and Stefan sat on the couch, looking at Katherine from the distance. He wasn't sure what would he do now. He only needed to wait for her result.

"Stefan." someone called. He looked towards the door and saw Bryan Pierce was there. He stood and waited for him to walk in. "How's my daughter?"

"She just got back from a few examinations, sir. The doctor hasn't given the result yet."

Bryan walked towards Katherine's bed and sat beside her as he caressed her cheeks. "Wake up soon, my love. Your mother will be sad if you don't wake up once she gets here."

"Mrs. Pierce will be here too?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah. She'll be arrived this evening." Mr. Pierce answered without breaking his stare at Katherine. "You must be tired, Stefan. I'm sorry but I didn't know who else I could trust."

Stefan smiled a little. "No worries, sir. I'm perfectly fine."

"You should go home though."

"No problem. I can stay here."

"I'm here to accompany her."

"You're tired, sir. I can see that."

Bryan scoffed. Stefan didn't change. He was still the kindest boy that he had known for more than 5 years. "Alright. I think I have to go home first to get anything change and get back here before 5 PM."

Stefan nodded. "Take your time, sir. You have to take a rest."

"Okay. Thank you again, boy." he said as he turned around to see him. Stefan smiled and nodded slightly. Then he patted Stefan's shoulder once when he passed him towards the door. Stefan watched him leave and sighed relief.

**Boarding house…**

Knock. Knock.

No answer.

Knock. Knock.

"Comin'!" someone answered. Clearly that was Damon. He opened the door and saw Elena stood there. "Ah Miss Gilbert. Can I help you?"

"Is Stefan here?"

"Stefan? I thought he went to school. I didn't see him since this morning."

"Since this morning?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yep. I fell asleep at Bonnie's house and just got back at 9 AM."

"Where is he?"

"I have no idea. Have you called him?"

She nodded. "I have. But his phone is off."

"That kid." Damon shook his head. "Want to wait for him inside?"

"If you don't mind."

"Of course I don't. Please come in." he said, stepping back a little to let Elena in.

"Thank you." she said politely.

"Want to drink something?" he asked as he closed the door.

"No thanks." Elena looked at the stairs, wanting to wait for Stefan in his bedroom. Damon saw it and cleared his throat.

"If you want to wait for him in his bedroom, then go Elena."

She looked at him and smiled. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Why would I? Go." he said and winked at her. She nodded and went upstairs. "Uh brother. Where are you?" he asked to himself.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Stefan checked his watch once again. 4.50 PM. He was there for 18 hours. He was tired as hell. But he didn't think about that. He _didn't _want to think about that. Katherine was still sick, he shouldn't have being selfish. Suddenly the door opened and Bryan Pierce walked in. He had changed and looked a bit fresh. He brought a bag that probably filled with Katherine's clothes. In the other hand, he also brought a fruit parcel. Stefan walked towards him and helped with the things and put them on the table beside the bed.

"You can go home now, Stefan."

"But…"

"No buts. Go." he said, forcing him. He knew that Stefan was tired too. "Thank you so much for doing my favor." he said again as he patted Stefan's shoulder and smiled. Stefan smiled too and nodded.

"It's my pleasure, sir. So I guess I have to go home now. Good afternoon."

Bryan nodded. "Good afternoon, Stefan."

Then Stefan walked out of the room. Before he closed the door, he saw Bryan sat on the bed and caressed Katherine's cheek. Again. He looked terrible. Who wouldn't? His the only one kid, his beloved daughter had an accident and hadn't woke up yet. Halfheartedly, he closed the door and went from there.

**Boarding house…**

It's been 2 hours since Elena was waiting for Stefan in his room. It made her became more panic and afraid if something really happened to him. She put one of his books back to the bookshelves and sighed heavily. "No, no, no. Stefan is alright. Stefan is fine. He'll come home soon." she said, trying to convince herself.

Elena looked around. She was recalling her memories when she came here for the first time, when Stefan got sick. She walked towards his bed and sat there, suddenly feeling all tired and sleepy. Then she laid her back there and without her permission, the sleepiness was taking over and she quickly fell asleep.

At 5.18 PM Stefan arrived at the house. He opened the door and walked in slowly. Damon was looking at him from the living room and called him.

"Stefan!" the name's owner turned his head to look at Damon. He walked to the living room and sat in front of Damon. "Damn it, Stefan! Where were you!"

"What?"

"You didn't come home last night, did you?"

"How did you know?"

"Just answer my question."

Stefan sighed and nodded. "No, I didn't come home last night. Katherine got an accident and his father called me to accompany her in the hospital."

"Seriously? How bad is she?"

"Very bad. The nurse told me that the accident was terrible because she drove very fast and I don't know why she could crash her car to a tree."

"So the accident was solo? I mean, there was no other victim?"

"No."

This time, Damon was the one who sighing heavily and shook his head. "Does she wake up yet?"

"No. She had a few examinations this noon but still no results from the doctor."

Damon scoffed. "Well, I hope she will wake up soon."

"Yeah me too."

Damon looked at his brother again and said, "You look tired. Did you eat something this morning?"

"No but I just ate something at the Grill." he answered. "Alright, I want to go upstairs. Extremely need to take a shower." he said, standing up from the couch and turned his body around.

"Yeah you have to take a rest too."

Stefan only nodded and made his steps to the stairs. When he reached his room, he was a bit shocked to see Elena was there, sleeping on his bed. He smiled and thought he would want to kiss her so many times because he missed her that much. But yet he felt regret because he didn't tell her what happened last night. Didn't tell her why he did not come to school.

He walked towards her and pulled the folded blanket and placed it around her body up to her chin. She stirred slightly but didn't open her eyes. He carefully caressed her hair and whispered, "I'm so sorry Elena. I didn't call you. I'm sorry that maybe I make you worry." he bent down to kiss her forehead. Then he stood, grabbed his towel and took a quick shower.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Where is Elena?" Jeremy asked as he walked into the kitchen. Jenna was preparing their dinner.

"Stefan's house."

"What is she doing there?"

"Don't know." she answered casually. She was busy on trying the taste of food that she was making.

"Why are you being like that about her?"

"Like what?"

"You seem don't care about her and her _boyfriend_." he pressed his voice when he said boyfriend.

She stopped cooking and turned around to see Jeremy. "Jeremy, look. I do care about her okay? But Stefan is her boyfriend, I trust him as much as I trust your sister. They wouldn't do anything far."

"You wouldn't know." he argued.

Jenna shook her head. "What is wrong with you? Why are you being so negative about Stefan? You haven't met him yet."

"I'm gonna go upstairs." he cut the conversation off and quickly walked to the stairs. Jenna sighed and continued to cook.

**Meanwhile in the boarding house…**

Stefan had finished his shower. He walked out of his bathroom after he changed his clothes and brushed his teeth. He hung his towel on the cap-stock in the back of his bedroom door. But when he turned around, he saw Elena already sat on his bed. He smiled as she stood from the bed and crossed her arms over her chest. His smile faded as soon as he realized that she didn't look happy. She was clearly mad.

"You have some explaining to do, Mr. Salvatore." she said, looking at his eyes directly.

Stefan just looked at her and gulped.

**A/N : So what do you think? :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N : Thank you so much for the reviews. Those mean a lot to me. :')**

"You have some explaining to do, Mr. Salvatore." she said, looking at his eyes directly.

Stefan just looked at her and gulped. Elena raised an eyebrow, looking more impatient. Stefan sighed and walked towards her. She moved a few steps to her left, completely avoiding him. She needed his explanations, not his hugs or whatever he wanted to give her at the moment.

He (indeed) wanted hug her. And when she avoided him, he was a bit surprised.

_She might, no.. She was mad at me. Very much. _He thought.

"Where I have to start?" he asked, bringing himself to his bed and sat there. Elena looked at a small couch behind her and sat there too.

"Did you come home last night?" she started to ask.

"No."

"Where were you?"

"Hospital."

Elena furrowed her eyebrows deeper. Hospital? "What were you doing there?"

"Katherine got an accident and his father wanted me to accompany her."

"Katherine? Her father?" she asked again, not sure about what she heard.

Stefan nodded. "After I brought you home, her father called me and asked me to accompany her. She had an accident and he said that he only could trust me. That's why I didn't come to school today."

Elena crossed her arms over her chest once more and leaned her back to the couch. "And did you think that you wouldn't need to let me know?"

He shook his head no. "No, I didn't think that, Elena."

"No?"

"Of course not." he reassured her as he stood up and walked towards her. He grabbed her hands and pulled her until she stood in front of him. "I wanted to call you but my phone went off. I didn't have any telephone cards, there was no Katherine's phone and I didn't know how to call you. And before my phone went off, I was too panic and suddenly fell asleep. So…"

Elena yanked her hands from Stefan's and stepped back a little. "You and her father seem so close." she stated. Stefan looked at her with unexplained expressions and sighed heavily. He knew that it wouldn't be easy.

"His father was my father's friend. After he moved back from Germany, he signed Katherine in to my school and he commended her to me. And uh, maybe you can imagine the rest." he shrugged, still wishing Elena would understand.

Elena sighed a little. "Okay, okay I understand now. Sorry for being childish." she said, standing still at her place but her face went soft. Stefan nodded and smiled. He was relief she could understand. "But don't do that to me again, Stefan. I mean, wherever you are, whatever happens, please just call me. Let me know okay? I was so worried about you today and you have no idea ab…" suddenly she lost her words. Not because she forgot about that but that's because Stefan cut her off with kisses. He was happy it's over.

He could feel her smile as she pressed her lips against his. He lingered his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. She pulled her lips away and giggled. "You missed me that much, didn't you?" she asked playfully, wrapping her arms around his neck and played his very bottom hair.

Stefan shook his head. "No, I didn't." then he chuckled when he saw she pouted. "I was kidding, my love. Of course I missed you way that much."

"Good to hear that, Mr. Playful." she said, smiling widely and pulling his head closer to her so she could kiss him again. Which she did. He suddenly growled and lifted her body up. The next thing was he brought her to his bed. He laid her back carefully without even breaking the kiss. She pulled away, looking for some air. He kissed her neck twice then sat up some. He laughed as he saw she pouted again.

"What is that pout for?" he asked as he caressed her hair lovingly. His eyes were so soft, Elena swore she almost could see his pure heart from them. She sat up and faced him.

"I didn't get enough kisses from you." she winked and cupped his cheeks.

"Is that all you can think about?" he asked as he continued to laugh and pointed her forehead with his forefinger.

She shrugged. "Your fault. You made me worried all day and I missed you."

He stopped laughing and took her hands from his cheeks. His face showed that he was very guilty. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah I can see that you mean it. And you have to keep your promise okay?"

"Okay." he nodded slowly and leaned in to kiss her. Just in time his lips almost touched hers again, they heard an annoying sound.

Hik!

Stefan opened his eyes as he pulled himself away from her. "Hey, it's a good timing. Can you stop it?" he teased and failed to hide his laughter.

"Who can stop… Hik! Hiccup by them… Hik! Themselves?" she asked sarcastically. "Please make it stop." she said again quickly.

"I don't want to." Stefan answered, more teasing her. He was enjoying her because she was so cute when she hiccupped.

"How could you… Hik! Do that to… Hik! Me?" she looked at him. "Surprise me."

"No."

"Stefan!" she hissed, hitting his upper arms.

"I'm tired of this, Elena." he said, looking at the road in front of him. "HA!" he suddenly shouted as he turned around to face her again.

They waited for a moment and together asked, "Does it stop?"

Hik!

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It was dinner time. Jeremy went downstairs after Jenna yelled 5 times. He was still a bit irritated about the fact that Elena was in _his_ house. _I don't hate Stefan, but he would ruin my plan. And he's already doing it right now, _he thought as he walked to the kitchen. _Jenna shouldn't know about my plan._ As he reached the table, he could see Jenna was taking rice and placed it on their plates.

"You just love rice, don't you?"

Jenna looked at him and answered, "Can't live without that."

Jeremy laughed a bit as he heard her answer and took a seat in front of her. "Good to know. My tummy is Indonesian, so it wouldn't be full if I didn't eat rice."

"I know that, kiddo. That's why I bought 2 sacks of rice." she said, placing the dishes on his plate. "Just for you." she winked.

"Mhmm. You're perfect, auntie."

"I am." she agreed. "Let's eat."

Jeremy nodded and started to eat. Even though Jenna's food wasn't that delicious, but it was enough for him. Because it's Jenna, his aunt, who cooked it. He missed having someone cooked for him. He missed having family. "Thank you, Jenna."

She looked at him curiously as she chewed her food. "For what?"

Jeremy didn't answer but only smiled instead. He loved to make people curious. But this time, it's about a good thing. _Thank you for being my aunt. Thank you for making me believed that I still have a family._

And about those words, only God and him who knew.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Damon could hear Stefan's laughter as he walked inside. He was picking Bonnie up to his house as she agreed to cook for dinner. Bonnie looked at him confusedly.

"I haven't heard that Stefan's laugh in a very very very long time." she said and smiled. "I bet it's because of Elena."

"I'm sure it is." Damon agreed, wrapping his arms around Bonnie's shoulder and walked to the kitchen. He was terribly hungry.

"You're bad." Elena said, pinching his cheeks.

"If I were a bad guy, you wouldn't want to be my girlfriend."

"Soooooooo confident." she said again.

"Salvatores are always confident." suddenly they heard Damon's voice interrupted them. "By the way, what are you two doing in my kitchen?" he asked as he raised his eyebrows.

Stefan turned around and saw Damon and Bonnie were behind the bar counter. "One, this is our house which means all of facilities are OURS. Two, I'm cooking dinner for her since I already ate at the Grill before came home. Three, you scared me as hell, D. I didn't hear you came." He tried to make points as he glared at his brother.

"One, this is indeed our house, but you never cooked in the kitchen before so that means kitchen is mine. Two, are you counting us? Three, my step is big, Steffy. I'm wearing boots and you couldn't hear that? Guess that's because you're having fun with your girl." Damon argued, lifting his fingers as many as he made points. Bonnie slapped his chest slightly. "What?" he looked at her.

"Don't be like that. I'm sorry Elena if you have to hear these two brothers having arguments." she turned to see Elena. Elena laughed nervously.

"No, that's okay. Honestly, I love watching them having arguments. That means they still care about each other." everyone in the kitchen looked at her disbelief. She realized that and quickly re-explained what she meant. "I mean they still want to talk to each other because I had a neighbor in Indonesia who wouldn't talk at all to his brother. I don't know why but it happened."

"It really did?" Stefan turned his face and looked at her. Elena only nodded. "Wow, what a horrible thing."

"Yeah, very horrible." Damon added. "So I guess I have to be more grateful then. I mean," he looked at Stefan again, "we still talk to each other." Stefan chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah brother. So do you want me to cook for the two of you?"

"What are you cooking?" Bonnie asked.

"Omelet with hot and soy sauce."

"Mmm sounds delicious. Please two more." Bonnie ordered.

"Way to go, Boo." Stefan said and took 2 eggs from the refrigerator. Elena started to placing plates on the table, Bonnie was pouring mineral water to the glasses and Damon… Yeah, being Damon with pouring his glass with bourbon. Bonnie saw that and rolled her eyes. When they're officially married, she would hide his bourbon so he wouldn't drink too much. She was worried about his drink behavior.

When Stefan finished on cooking, he placed them on the plates and brought them to the table. Everyone was ready to eat. He took a seat beside Elena and watched her took the first bite. Her face was unreadable.

"How is it?" he asked, hoping that it wouldn't kill her. Damon and Bonnie either.

"It's..." she hung her words.

"Yeah?" he became more curious.

"Delicious!" Bonnie finished them. Stefan turned his face to see Bonnie and smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah, brother, this is so good." Damon agreed and took another bite eagerly.

Stefan turned to see Elena again who was smiling widely. "Best omelet I've ever had." she said. Her words made him happy. Very happy, to be honest. At least he didn't kill them all with his foods. "And it's so hot." she added as she quickly took her glass from the table and drank the water.

"Be careful. Don't let you get hiccupped again." he said teasingly.

"She had a hiccup?" Damon asked, almost laughed. Bonnie smiled too.

"Yes and it was so hard to make it stop." Stefan chuckled and caressed Elena's hair lovingly. Her face turned into red.

"People said if someone gets a hiccup, they will be higher." Damon told them.

"That's for kids, Damon." Bonnie disagreed. "How old are you, Elena?"

"Almost 18 years old."

"See? It's still almost! A girl will stop growing when she is 18 years old. Therefore she's still growing." Damon argued again. Didn't know why but he always loved to make arguments. Stefan rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Whatever you say, brother." Stefan said. Damon showed his winning smile and tucked his tongue out playfully to Bonnie. He won this time. All of them were laughing in that moment. Everyone was having a good time. Even though Stefan knew that he did have this kind of moment a few times but he realized that Elena made it better since she came along to him and this house. She never failed to bring a very good mood into a room. And because of that plus other reasons, he would keep her in his life. He grabbed her free hand under the table, squeezed it slightly and when she looked at him, he mouthed,

I love you.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Bryan sat on the couch near Katherine's bed as he tried to watch TV. He couldn't really watch it though, he was thinking and wishing and hoping that Katherine would wake up and tell him to shut the TV off. She never liked when he's watching TV. It bored and annoyed her. Because he only would watch news or sport channels, especially golf, with high volume. He smiled as he remembered the day he fought with her just because of that.

"No, no, no! My baby!" he suddenly heard someone yelled in front of the door. His wife. Katherine's mother. As soon as he stood, she came in and rushed into Katherine's bed. She was crying so hard. "Baby, Mom's here. Please wake up…" she said as she caressed Katherine's hair and kissed her forehead a few times. Bryan closed the door and walked towards her. He stopped behind her and had no words. He only caressed his wife's shoulder to calm her.

"Why does she… she not wake up yet?" she asked hesitantly as she sobbed.

Bryan sighed heavily and answered, "The nurse said she had a terrible accident so she needs to rest a bit longer. And Doctor will give us the results tonight."

"What results?" she asked confusedly.

"She had a few tests this noon. I hope there's nothing wrong with her."

"Yeah, yeah. I hope so." she turned to see her again and kissed her nose. "Wake up soon, baby. Mom and Dad won't leave you." she promised. Then she lingered her arms around Katherine's neck and placed her cheek against Katherine's head. Bryan pulled a chair from the corner to her bed and sat there.

_Mom and Dad are waiting for you, Katherine. Wake up soon._

…

Knock. Knock.

Bryan woke up and saw a nurse opened the door and let the Doctor and another nurse came in.

"Good evening, Mr. Pierce. This is Dr. Max, he's Ms. Katherine's doctor." the second nurse said.

Bryan stood and walked towards the Doctor and shook his hand with him. "Pleasure to meet you. And thank you for taking care of my daughter."

"It's my job. So, Mr. Pierce I need to tell you about the results." he said politely as he looked at behind Bryan. Bryan looked at behind him too and saw that his wife was sleeping in Katherine's bed. He apologized, quickly woke her up and told her that the Doctor was there.

After a few moments and the Doctor re-read the results, he explained them to Katherine's parents. Apparently she had fractures. She broke 3 ribs, 2 fingers of her both hands and her left ankle. She would feel a little paralyzed on her right arm too but it would be alright as soon as she made progress of her medicines. Her parents could be rest easy because she had no internal bleeding or brain damage. Both of Bryan and his wife sighed happily.

"But I have a very bad news for both of you, even for Miss Pierce." The Doctor suddenly said after he read the last page of the results. It scared the two of them.

Bryan gulped heavily and asked, "What is it, Doc?"

"She lost her baby."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"You smiled a lot tonight." Elena stated as she looked at him who was driving slowly. They were on their way to bring Elena home.

Stefan turned his face to see her and smiled. Again. "Is that a bad thing?"

She threw her eyes to the outside of her window and giggled. Stefan poked her side playfully to tease her. "Hey, I'm here, Miss Gilbert. I forbid you to look outside when I'm beside you." he said again, not forgetting to watch the road in front of him.

"Mhmm." she nodded and brought her eyes back to Stefan. "I had fun tonight."

"With me?"

"Not only with you, silly. But also with Bonnie and Damon." After she said that, he suddenly pulled over and stopped his car there. He unbuckled his safety belt and turned to see her. "What? Why are you pulling over?" she asked confusedly.

"What did you call me?" he asked with his irritated voice.

"Called you what?" she blinked a few times, more confused.

"You called me silly, 'Lena." he looked at her disbelief. "No one called me that. Ever." Elena's face went soft and she laughed out loud. Stefan became more irritated. There was nothing to laugh for. "Why are you laughing?"

"You're acting even sillier, Stefan." she answered, trying to stop her laughter. But it was an epic fail. Stefan groaned and leaned his back against the car seat. Was he that silly? And now it was his turn to look outside through his window. Elena stopped laughing abruptly, starting to worry. "Stefan?"

He shook his head. _He was acting like a kid_, Elena thought. "Stefan." she tried again. "Hey, I'm sorry. I was kidding." she brought her left hand to touch his hair but he avoided her. "Hey." This time, she brought both of her hands and cupped his cheeks, trying to turn his face to look at her. And she did.

"I'm so sorry." she apologized as she locked her eyes with him. "I didn't mean to hurt you or irritate you or…"

"What would you do if I didn't want to forgive you?" he cut her words.

"Excuse me?" Elena raised her eyebrow.

Stefan sighed. "What would you do if I didn't want to forgive you?" he repeated his question, with no smile or playful eyes. He was deadly serious.

"You didn't… want to… forgive me?" she asked, couldn't believe those words. She was scared and shocked.

"It depends."

"What do you mean?" she was more confused.

Stefan could see that she was scared. So he brought his face closer to hers and pressed his lips on hers slightly. "I was kidding." As soon as she heard he said that, she opened her eyes and studying him.

"You're not funny, Stefan."

"But you love me anyways." he said, shrugging and pretending like he didn't that care. Elena wanted to deny it but she knew that it was useless and wasting their time.

"Yeah, I do." Stefan smiled for millionth times as he heard that. He thought that she would argue with him. _She is better than I thought, _Stefan said in his mind.

"I do too." Stefan replied her words as he leaned in and kissed her again. Then he pulled back, brought his lips to her ear, kissed it once and whispered, "Best night ever."

"Stop talking." she told him and grabbed his face to kiss him again. And again. And again.

And again.

**A/N : Too much SE fluffs? But I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review! Thank you for reading. :D**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N : I'm sorry I was wrong in the last chapter. When Elena began to hiccup, I wrote Stefan looked at the road in front of him—I didn't mean that. I meant he looked at the way through the door. Sorry ;(**

** Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews. You all give me spirits to continue this fanfic. I love you! 3**

Knock. Knock.

No one answered.

Knock. Knock.

Jenna rushed downstairs and yelled, "Coming!" as soon as she reached the door knob, she twisted it to the right and opened the door. And there he was. A charming, gorgeous, brown eyed boy stood in front of her. But she didn't know him. "Can I help you?"

"Jenna, I suppose?" he asked politely. Jenna nodded but looked so confused. He saw that and smiled. "I'm sorry. Um, my name is Arden, Elena and Jeremy's friend from Indonesia." he introduced himself as he offered his hand to her. Jenna was being polite with taking his hand and shook it slowly.

"Ah Elena and Jeremy's friend. Did they know you would come here?"

"Jeremy already knew. But Elena… uh.. No." he answered nervously, caressing back of his neck awkwardly.

"Arden! You really came, man!" suddenly Jeremy shouted as he went downstairs quickly. Jenna stepped back as Jeremy walked towards him and patted his shoulder. He looked so happy. "Jenna, this is Arden, my neighbor in Indonesia. And Elena's school friend."

Jenna nodded again and smiled. "I know. Would you come inside?" she asked Arden. Before he could answer that, Jeremy cut him off eagerly.

"Come on!" Jeremy invited as he dragged Arden to come in. Arden nodded once to Jenna and followed Jeremy to the living room. "I'm sorry Elena is not coming yet. Take a seat." Jeremy said as he pointed the couch.

"Where is she?" Arden asked, looking around before he sat. "I can't believe she would go outside at this time." he knew that Elena was scared to go outside at night, even just to throw the garbage.

"She's with Stefan." Jenna answered as she came from the kitchen, bringing two cups of tea for Jeremy and him. Jeremy started to panic as he heard that. Arden wasn't supposed to know about Stefan yet. He glared at Jenna but she didn't notice that.

After she went back to the kitchen, Arden whispered, "Who is Stefan?"

"He's… He's Elena's friend." Jeremy answered hesitantly. _This can't be happening_. He told himself. "When did you arrive?" he quickly change the topic.

Fortunately, Arden bought it. "Last night. I literally came here once I got my parents' permission." Jeremy only nodded. "So did you give my gift to Elena?" Arden asked again. Jeremy couldn't lie that he saw Arden's excitement from his eyes.

"Yeah, I did. I told her that it was from you but I don't know if she already opened it or not."

"That's okay. At least she knew it was from me."

"Yeah." Jeremy said again, feeling uncomfortable. He was secretly hoping that Elena went home by herself. The last thing he wanted was Arden would meet Stefan tonight.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"She was pregnant?" both of Bryan and Leah, aka Mrs. Pierce asked at the same time.

Doctor nodded. "Yes. She was pregnant, 6 weeks, before the accident happened. It wasn't right to tell you about this before her, but I think you two should know since she's not married yet and she's still too young." he explained.

Leah couldn't hold the pressure that came into her head. She babbled something but no one could hear that. Then suddenly she fainted. Her head fell into Bryan's shoulder whose was still learning the Doctor's words about Katherine's pregnancy. He came back to the reality and began panic as he looked at his wife fainted. The nurses literally ran and took her over.

"Sir, would you please stand up? We need to lay Mrs. Pierce here." Mila, the first nurse asked Bryan carefully. He only nodded and stood up. Doctor Max went to Leah and checked her pulse. It was weak, but still there.

"Is she okay?" Bryan asked, hoping she was alright. Doctor Max didn't answer, he took his stethoscope and examined Leah's chest instead. He did it for a few minutes. After that, he took his stethoscope off of his ears and examined her pupils with his small flashlight. When everything was done, he turned to see Bryan.

"She's okay but I think she's too tired and shocked to hear that Ms. Pierce lost her baby." Bryan placed his hand over his mouth and nodded. He was shocked and scared too. Dr. Max stood and went to Katherine's bed. He checked the machines and i.v line. Everything was okay. He was sure Katherine would wake up tomorrow morning.

"But will she… My daughter, back to normal again?" Bryan asked, feeling too afraid to hope. Dr. Max turned around and looked at him again.

He sighed, being carefully with his words before he split it out. "Yeah I hope so. But she needs to do some physiotherapy first. I will arrange the schedule for her."

"Okay." Bryan agreed. All he wanted was Katherine back to normal again. Dr. Max walked towards the door and patted Bryan's shoulder once as he passed him to give him support and empathy. Bryan nodded and kept looking at the door until Dr. Max and nurses out of the room and closed it. He walked back to the couch where Mrs. Pierce had laid down and sat there. He moved a little to place her head on his lap and caressed her hair. He was tired too. And before he knew, sleepiness was taking him over to the dreamland.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Wanna come inside?" Elena asked Stefan as she unbuckled her safety belt. He looked at her and smiled. At the time he almost said yes, his phone rang. Damon called.

"What?" Stefan asked through the phone. Damon obviously said something important because Stefan's face went serious. Elena couldn't hear the conversation but she was sure he wouldn't come inside to her house tonight. She kept looking at him until he ended the call.

"My uncle and his family are in my house. Damon insists me to go home now." Stefan informed, feeling guilty as hell. And she was right about what she thought before.

"Okay." she smiled and nodded. He could come over tomorrow. Or whenever he could.

"I'm so sorry, Elena." Stefan said again, couldn't hide his guilty from his face and voice.

"That's okay, Stefan. No needs to apologize. You should go back now though." she reassured him as she caressed his cheeks. Stefan nodded and leaned in to kiss her slowly. She accepted the kiss and smiled as she pulled away.

"I love you." Stefan said, his hands were still cupping her face. Elena held his hands and mouthed those magic words right back to him. Then she hopped out of his car and turned around to say goodbye once more from the opened window. Stefan waved his hand to her and started to leave her house. She waited until his car was out of her sight and walked to her house.

Her steps were so light, she didn't know why but it felt… easy. It was so different from this morning, when she couldn't find Stefan anywhere. But after she met Stefan, forgave him, hugged and even kissed him, she was way more than happy. It felt like he was half of her life. Actually, he was her everything. Or it was what she believed. When she was in front of the door, she heard someone's familiar voice. She hesitated.

_No way. It's not him._ She told herself. She opened the door slowly and walked in. She knew his voice was from the living room. She closed the door without any sounds and walked towards where he was. Then her eyes went wide as soon as she recognized who exactly the voice's owner. It's Arden. Her friend, Arden.

_It's him. Oh my God. It's exactly him. _She kept talking to herself disbelief. Her eyes were teary.

"Elena?" Jenna asked. Elena quickly turned her face to see her aunt. Jenna saw Elena was nearly crying and literally ran to her. "What happened?"

Elena shook her head no. "Nothing."

"Elena?" That was Jeremy. This time Elena turned her face to see him walked towards her. Then she looked at the boy who stood up from the couch but didn't move at all. He waited there. "When did you come? We didn't hear any voice." Jeremy said as he looked back at Arden, somewhat proud. But Elena didn't know why.

"I just came." Elena answered, almost whispering.

"Ah okay. Um Jenna, I need to talk to you about something. Upstairs." Jeremy suddenly said. Jenna's eyes went wide as she looked at him, couldn't believe what she heard from his mouth. Jeremy never asked to talk to her. This was weird. But Jeremy didn't wait for her to approve, he eagerly pulled Jenna's hand and went upstairs, leaving Elena and Arden alone.

Elena couldn't believe what just happened with Jeremy and Jenna. But she realized that Jeremy was up for something. By that meant, Arden and her. She cleared her throat as she looked at Arden. He was standing still near the couch and smiled nervously.

"Hey." he greeted. Elena only nodded uncomfortably. She was battling with herself whether she wanted to get closer to him or keeping the space. But then she decided to sit on a chair near his couch.

"Have a seat." Elena said. If Arden didn't know her so well, he would think that Elena was annoyed. But he knew that she was just shocked and confused how to act in front of him. Arden placed himself again on the couch, still looking at her. She realized that but kept making her busy with pretended to look for something in her bag.

"I'm sorry." he started. Elena literally looked at him and tried to look casual.

"About what?"

"I didn't reply all of your e-mails." Arden said again.

There was a long silent between them. But then Elena suddenly spat. "Damn it, Arden! Did you know how worried I was? I thought you were that mad at me!"

"I was mad at you, yes." Arden told her honestly and calmly. "I was that mad at you and I didn't want to talk to you until regret came over me."

"Did you know how childish and pathetic you looked?" Elena asked. Soon she realized that she was rude, but she didn't care. He hurt her at the first place.

"I know. I was being childish and pathetic." Arden confessed. "And I'm sorry."

Elena sighed heavily. As much as she mad at him, it never took a long time to forgive him. He was her best friend after all.

"So do you forgive me?" he asked.

"I can't believe you would ask me that since you know I've never liked to get a question like that when I am mad at someone." she said, got more annoyed with his question.

Arden chuckled. "You're still the snarky Elena."

"And you're still the goody Arden."

This time, both of them were chuckling. Elena stood from her chair and walked towards him. Arden stood and accepted her hugs, clearly feeling relief that she forgave him.

"I missed you." Elena said.

"I missed you too, E." he said it back to her as he buried his face to her hair. _Her shampoo is still the same, flower blossoms._

Elena pulled away and giggled. "When did you arrive? And what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Last night. I wanted to spend this holiday with you and Jeremy. You know that I don't have any friends except you two." he answered, letting her go back to her chair.

"Poor you." she said playfully. "So now you have to tell me."

"Tell you what?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "Your exactly reasons why did you not reply my e-mails."

"I thought I told you already."

"Just because you were mad at me?"

"Yes."

"The horror."

Arden laughed this time. "You left me, Elena."

"Yeah but I promised you to keep contact. Remember?"

"Yeah but I didn't see that's the way to keep me close to you."

Elena sighed again. "You know why I moved here, Arden."

He nodded. "I know. But that's not an excuse."

"You're so annoying."

"Ouch."

Elena smiled again. "But I'm glad you came here."

"Yeah me too." _So that I can get your heart. For real. _He thought then looked at his watch. He should go back to his place though.

"Wanna go now?" Elena asked.

"Yeah, don't want to disturb you any longer." he said as he stood and she followed him.

"How did you get here?"

"Bus."

"Bus? There's no bus anymore at this time. Jeremy will take you to your place. Jeremy!" she yelled as she walked to the stairs. "Jeremy!"

Arden didn't say anything because he knew Elena never wanted people to refuse what she offered. So he was following what she wanted instead.

"Uh what?" Jeremy asked as he made his steps downstairs.

"Can you please give Arden a ride? There's no bus at this time."

"Yeah sure. Jenna I borrow your car!" he tilted his head to the second floor and yelled. "Come on, man." he said to Arden. Arden nodded and walked towards Elena.

"Thank you and good night." he said. Elena smiled and followed him out of the house, just being polite as the house owner to their guests. She waited until the car disappeared from her sight and walked into her house again. She obviously needed to get rest soon.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Missed me already?" Stefan teased.

"You know what Stefan? When people accept their calls, they would say 'hello' first instead of 'missed me already?' just like you." Elena said sarcastically.

Stefan laughed. "That so? I didn't notice."

"Boo." Elena acclaimed him. Stefan laughed louder. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm heading to my room. I just had a meeting with my big family about Damon's wedding."

"Had have fun?"

"Not quite." Even though she didn't see him, she could know that he shrugged.

"How many days left for his wedding?"

"About 8 days."

"8 days?" she could hear the click sound as he closed the door and locked it.

"Uh-huh."

"Are you afraid?"

"Afraid of what?" he asked, sitting on his bed.

"That you might be miss your brother."

Stefan sighed. "I guess. Even though he's so annoying, but he's the only one I've got in this family."

Elena literally regretted what she asked. "I'm so sorry, Stefan."

"Sorry for what?"

"For asking you about that." she could feel that her eyes went teary. But she didn't really know why. Because she felt sorry for Stefan? Maybe. Or…

"Nah, that's okay. I have someone as important as him too, by the way."

"Yeah? Who is it?"

"You."

Elena couldn't hold her tears anymore. So she let her tears fell down onto her cheeks silently. She thought that she didn't deserve his love because he might lose her as well. And she hated that fact.

"Elena?" Stefan recalled. She cleared her throat a few times. "You okay?"

"I'm okay." she answered but couldn't hide her thick voice. Typically of crying person. And Stefan noticed it.

"Don't cry, baby."

But it made her cried louder instead. Her tears fell like a waterfall.

"Elena?" Stefan suddenly felt depressed. He didn't mean to make her cry louder. _Damn it! _He cursed to himself. "Elena, I'm sorry." he said again desperately. "What can I do for you? Please tell me." he begged.

Elena didn't say a word. She was too weak to say something. Yet she was still crying too. But then he went silent, hearing and hoping that her cry would stop as soon as possible. He hated to see a girl cry, especially his girl. He felt bad to not to be there for her. He felt bad because he couldn't cheer her up right now. Then he decided to wait for her. He knew she needed her time.

When Stefan knew that Elena calmed for a bit, he sighed. At least the hard time was over. Or still _nearly_ over.

"Stefan?" she called, making sure he was still there.

"I'm here, baby."

"I love hearing you call me baby." Elena tried to bring the situation up. And Stefan respected it.

"Admit it, Elena. You just love me that much, don't you?"

She chuckled with her-still-thick-voice. "Always being confident."

"I am." They went silent for a little while. "You feel better?"

"Yeah. Thank you for not leaving me."

Her words hurt him to be honest. He really felt bad because he couldn't hold her close and let her cry on his shoulder. But he didn't want to show it so he just tried to calm her more. "Anytime, my love."

She leaned back against the head of her bed. "I was so rude to cry in front of you in all of sudden. I'm so sorry."

"You make me worried, Elena." he told her honestly. "But that's okay. I'm glad if you're feeling better now."

"I appreciate that." she said and smiled.

"Hey, tell you what, I can make you feel more better." Stefan promised her.

She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Really? How so?"

"Place your phone as close as possible to your ear."

Elena became more confused but still followed his first instruction.

"Done? I can't see you from here."

Elena laughed a bit. Of course he couldn't see her. "Yes."

"Good. Now, don't say anything and keep your phone close. Keep concentrate."

"Okay."

"Ah ah ah. Don't say anything, remember?" he quickly cut her off before she said something else. "You just have to hear my words."

Elena almost wanted to hurry Stefan up. But then she quickly closed her mouth and smiled.

"I. Love. You." Stefan whispered carefully. "You, Elena Gilbert. I love you." he said again, reassuring her. She kept listening to him but then she heard something. She wasn't sure about it at first. _Is that…? _

Stefan's kissy voice. It really was.

When she realized it, she laughed out loud. Stefan heard that through his phone as he made kissy voices on the screen then quickly placed his phone against his ear again. "Your laugh is so beautiful." he stated.

She blushed as she heard it. "Thank you, Stefan. You really make me a lot better."

"I'm glad."

"But why did you come up with your kissy idea?" she asked, still containing her laughter.

"Because I wanted to kiss you." he answered honestly. "And I bet you're blushing right now." he added, teasing her.

"Are you even a witchdoctor?" she teased him back.

"Kind of."

Elena chuckled for a millionth time since she called him. Stefan clearly made her feel much better. "Kind of." she stated it back and nodded.

"You ready for bed?"

"Yeah, I just need to brush my teeth and wash my face first."

"Then do it. It's past midnight, Elena." he said, looking at his clock on his nightstand.

"Will do, Sir." Stefan smiled as he heard this. "Hey Stefan." she called him again.

"Yes?"

"It's your turn."

"What turn?"

"Place your phone as close as possible to your ear." she copied his words. Then he smirked as he realized what she exactly meant.

"Up for revenge or something?" Stefan asked playfully and obeyed her.

"Maybe." she answered, trying to sound careless. "Done it?"

"Done."

Elena counted one until three then whispered,

"I love you, Stefan."

_Hold on to that, never let that go…_

**A/N : I hope you enjoyed this chapter and it didn't disappoint you. Please fill me in with reviews so I can try my best to write the next chapter. Thank you so much for reading! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N : You guys are starting to hate Arden and Jeremy. Sorry, I didn't mean to make you think or feel negatively about them. But I hope I don't lose all of you as my lovely readers. I'm so sorry if I disappoint you. I'll try to write more better.**

"_Who is Stefan again?" Arden asked to Jeremy as they were on the way to Arden's hotel. Jeremy suddenly went nervous. He knew that Arden was looking at him, hoping for his answer but he was afraid to look back at him. So he just tried to focus on the road._

"_He's Elena's friend." he tried to answer it in a very simple way. But it still sounded wrong._

"_Really?" he asked again, throwing his eyes to the road in front of him. "I know that you're lying, Jeremy." he said calmly. Jeremy gulped, still not wanting to face his neighbor. "I'm not mad at you though. Don't worry."_

"_Did.. Did you know who is he?" finally Jeremy asked Arden back and braved himself to look at him as he asked that._

_Arden nodded. "Sort of. I've never known him before Elena told me." he paused. "But I know that he makes her happy."_

"_Did she tell you that he's her boyfriend?"_

_Arden was shocked to hear that and literally looked at Jeremy, clearly Elena didn't tell him about it. Yet. Jeremy felt guilty as he realized that._

"_Look, sorry man I didn't mean to… I just…"_

_Arden sighed. "That's okay, Jer. And no, she didn't tell me about it." he quickly said, leaning his back to the seat and closed his eyes. He was **late**._

_Jeremy didn't say anything more, he knew that he just broke Arden's heart whereas he didn't mean to. He only could tighten his grip on the wheel as he kept driving. He shouldn't have said anything._

"Jeremy, breakfast!" Jenna yelled from the stairs, bringing him back to the reality. He shook his head twice then out of his room, making his steps to have breakfast with Jenna and Elena.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Stefan, wait!" Caroline called as she ran towards him. He stopped his steps, turning around to see her face and waiting for her until she stood in front of him. "Was everything… was everything okay?" she hardly took a breath. "Elena… Elena was looking for you yesterday." she explained, still lack of oxygen. Stefan smiled and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Relax, Care. Breathe." he instructed which obeyed by her. "Everything was… not exactly okay." he hesitated, causing her began to be more panic, he could see it from her eyes. "No no no. I was fine, Elena was fine, we're fine." he quickly said again. His words answered the questions that came in to Caroline's mind. He was like could read her mind.

"So what happened?" she asked curiously.

Stefan released his hands from her shoulders and walked towards lockers, not wanting to block people's way. Caroline followed him and stood in front of him. "Katherine got a car accident." he told her.

"She what?!"

"Ssh." he quickly sushed her as he placed his finger on his lips, warning her to keep quiet.

She looked around and sighed. "When it happened?" she whispered.

"Wednesday night." Caroline raised an eyebrow as she heard that. "What?" he asked.

"I met her at the Grill that night."

"You did?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaned in some to be more focus. She nodded. "Did she come alone?"

"Yes. I think. I didn't see her with anyone."

"Was she drunk?" he asked again, searching for more clues.

"As much as I saw… Kinda." she recalled her memories. Stefan sighed as he leaned his back to one of the lockers. "Is she alright?" she carefully asked.

"Not really. She hasn't wake up yet. But maybe I'll go to the hospital today, not sure though when exactly it is." he said as he looked at her. "Have you seen Elena by the way?"

Caroline shook her head slowly. "I just came when I saw you walked." She looked around then checked her phone to see the clock. "I think she might come in a few more minutes."

Stefan smiled and nodded once. "Okay, I should go now though, Harry is waiting for me to talk about the practice today." Caroline smiled and nodded as well.

"Stefan?" she called him before he walked too far away.

"Yes?" he stopped and turned around to see her again.

"I hope she's okay." she said. Stefan knew who she meant.

"I sure hope so, Care. I hope so." then he left to the football room to meet his friend.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It's quiet. Too quiet for her.

She tried to move her finger a little. _It's heavy. I can't feel the movement too._

Slow but sure, she opened her eyes. It's still blurry at first. She blinked a few times until she could see a bit clearly. Then she tried to move her head to look around. But it's heavy too. She couldn't do it.

_Everything is hurt._

"Katherine? Baby?" she heard someone called her. "Honey?" then she heard someone's steps came closer. She tried harder to open her eyes wider and moved her head a little, which she did.

_Mom?_

"Oh baby, you wake up!" she said, walking faster and bent down to kiss her forehead. Katherine could feel something fell on her forehead.

_Is mom crying?_

Leah pulled away and looked down at her. "Hi beautiful." she greeted, smiling but letting her tears fell on to her cheeks. She caressed Katherine's hair and kissed her forehead again. "I'm glad you wake up, honey." she said quietly.

_Is it really you, Mom? _

Katherine still didn't believe that she could see her mom, in here. She then tried to speak but her voice wouldn't come. She even couldn't open her mouth. She only could part her lips, but not really opened.

_Where am I?_

She desperately wanted to ask Leah. She wanted to know where she was, why she was there and why everything was hurt. But she could do nothing. She just laid there, without knowing where and why was she there.

"Katherine?" she heard another voice. This time was a man.

_Dad?_

Bryan walked towards her bed and stopped near Leah. She could see that Bryan's eyes were teary from the corner of her eyes.

"Oh Katherine you finally wake up." he said, bending down to kiss her forehead, just like what Leah did. He then tried to hug her carefully, not wanting to hurt her. But honestly everything was hurt for her. She cringed a bit as Bryan's hand touched her shoulder. Then he pulled away, looking somewhat happy to see her awake. Hell, he wasn't _somewhat_ happy. He was _extremely_ happy.

Leah carefully grabbed Katherine's hand and caressed it as she sat on her bed. "I know everything is hurt, honey. But don't worry, it will be over soon." she told her. "And the Doctor will be here anytime soon to check you up." she added.

Bryan wiped his face with his handkerchief and looked at Leah. He nodded then placed his hand on Katherine's head. "You'll be okay, kiddo." he smiled with a happy, genuine smile.

"Indeed you will." Leah added, supporting what her husband just said. She smiled at her too, still letting her tears fell.

Katherine didn't try to do anything more. She just stayed quiet, trying to feel the good and comfortable atmosphere that came from her parents. She wanted to feel Leah's warmness as she caressed her hands and saw Bryan's appreciation or happiness because she was awake.

This was how a family should be.

_Finally._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Elena felt someone's strong arms wrapped her waist slowly from behind and placed his chin onto her shoulder as she put her books into the locker. She smiled as she recognized who it was. After she finished, she closed her locker then put her hands on his.

"Hey beautiful." he greeted, kissing her cheek. She brought one of her hands to the back of his neck, caressing it lovingly.

"Hey gorgeous." she greeted back. He chuckled then turned her around, bending down and kissing her lips. He could feel her lips curved into a smile as he kissed her chastely. "I missed you." she said between the kiss.

He pulled away some so that he could see her eyes and smiled. "I know." he placed his lips on hers before kissed her again and whispered, "I missed you more."

"Mmm, no way." she teased, bringing her both hands to his neck and pulled him down to her lips. Again.

"Yes way." he answered. He kissed her one last time before pulled away. She was all pouty, that's cute, he thought. "A a a no pouts." he finally knew what her pouts meant; she wanted him to kiss her more than he did. "Save the best for the last." he added, winking at her.

She just couldn't pretend to be at him though. She giggled and nodded. "Got it." she said. "Where were you this morning by the way?"

"Before the class? I went to football room, met Harry to talk about practice today." he answered. "Do you have any plans for tonight?" he asked as he leaned his side to the lockers. Elena followed his position but still facing him.

She nodded sadly. "Jeremy wants me to accompany him to buy books."

"Yeah? What books?"

"I don't know." she sighed. "I don't like this you know."

Stefan raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "Don't like what?"

"I thought that I could spend my night with you." she answered honestly. Her words made Stefan felt bad as well. He then stood steady and pulled her into a hug.

"There's still tomorrow, Elena. We can have a date tomorrow." he said, trying to calm her.

"But tonight is Friday night…"

"So?" he asked curiously as he pulled away, grabbing her shoulder and looked at her intensely.

"Friday nights are perfect for couples." she explained, blushing slightly. Stefan chuckled then kissed her forehead.

"Every night is perfect for couples, 'Lena." he teased. "But I guess Saturday night is the most perfect for us." he added, pulling her to his embrace once more.

Elena could feel Stefan was still chuckling. She slapped his back playfully as she hugged him. "There's nothing to chuckle for, Salvatore."

"You're just amazing, you know that?" he whispered to her ear then kissed it. Elena just shook her head.

"How about you Stefan, do you have any plans for today?" she asked, pulling away from his embrace as she looked at him.

"Well since we don't have a date tonight, I think I'll go to the hospital to visit Katherine."

"So you can have a date with her?" she asked again, feeling the jealousy came over her.

"Hmm maybe." he shrugged, pretending that he thought it would be good to do it. She just rolled her eyes.

"Have fun then." she said, couldn't stand his act. She was about to walk but then his hand gripped hers.

"I was kidding, Elena. Of course I wouldn't do that." he tightened his grip. "I just want to visit her."

"I know." she sighed and stepped closer to him again. "Sorry I was being ridiculous."

"Part of your charm." he chuckled again then leaned in to kiss her one last time. "Let's go. I'm hungry." he said as he finished the kiss. She just nodded and wrapped her arms around him and his around her as they made their way to the cafeteria.

It was lunch time anyway.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Jeremy didn't tell me that you would come." Elena said disbelief as she looked at him. He just smiled.

"It was a surprise."

"A surprise?" she mocked and rolled her eyes. "So not Arden."

Arden just chuckled until Jeremy walked towards them. Elena turned to see him and asked, "What did you buy?"

"Lord of the Rings." he answered, showing the plastic with LOTR in it. Elena raised her eyebrows.

"You already have it in Indonesia, Jeremy."

He just shrugged. "Yeah but I didn't bring it. I still have 12 more days in here and I need to read it."

"Whatever." she gave up. She knew that if Jeremy wanted or needed something, he would do anything to get it. Ambitious much. "Where do you wanna go again?" she asked.

He was thinking a little bit then answered, "Music store."

Elena sighed. Tonight would be a long night. Jeremy was kinda obsessed with music store. He could be there for a day long, even though he didn't buy anything in the end. But she thought tonight would be good though. When she would have time to accompany her brother again? It was precious.

Arden just looked at both of Jeremy and Elena from behind. He was walking slowly behind them, didn't want to interrupt their time. Although he knew that he already interrupted them since he came along. But he couldn't hold the need to see her, being closer to her. So here he was, walking or running after her shadow that walked in front of him.

"You're awake." Stefan said, smiling at her. She really wanted to say something to him, or even just smiled back at him. But she couldn't. Her sense felt went off.

Bryan walked towards them and patted his shoulder. Stefan looked at him as he nodded once. "She can't talk for now, Stefan. But she can hear whatever you say." he explained.

Stefan furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?"

Bryan smiled sadly. "She's still hurt and need more time to get some rest. But she'll be okay very soon." he answered. Stefan was concerned on what Bryan just said. She was still hurt. Of course she was.

Stefan looked back at Katherine and sat on the bed. Katherine stayed still, just looking at him. "I'm happy you're awake, Kat." he said carefully. Bryan and Leah looked at each other as they heard that. A knowing look came crossed their faces.

_Was Stefan the one who got her pregnant?_

"Are you sure you can walk?" Arden asked to Elena. She was sitting on a chair, not far from the emergency room. She nodded weakly, trying to stand up but when she was about to steady herself, she almost fell. Arden quickly grabbed her waist before she fell onto the floor. "You can't even stand, Elena." he said. "I'm gonna help you to walk."

"No, please give me time… I… I can do it." her voice came into a whisper as she spoke. She was that weak. It hurt him. It made him sad.

"Elena…" he warned.

But Elena shook her head quickly and sat on her chair again. "Just.. Just give me time.." she said, hoping that he would understand. He then nodded halfheartedly as he looked at her and sat beside her. She wasn't Elena he saw an hour ago. She was the other Elena.

They waited at least for 10 minutes or more. They didn't say or talk about anything. Arden didn't want to build a conversation though, knowing that Elena needed her time.

"I'm ready…" he suddenly heard her weak voice told him. He turned to see her face.

"Are you sure? If you're not, we can sit here and wait until…"

"I'm ready." she said again, cutting off his words. She wanted him to know that she's still strong. And she didn't want to make him waiting for too long. Arden just nodded and stood, extended his hand to help her but she refused it. She tried to stand by herself. And when she did, Arden's arms literally wrapped around her to steady her. She tried to make him release it, but she knew that she needed help for now. So she let him do it instead.

At the time they wanted to walk towards the emergency room, they heard someone called.

"Elena?"

_Stefan. No. No. No._

He made his way towards them and looked at both of Elena and Arden alternately with a deep curiosity and jealousy on his face. "What's going on here?"

_Stefan…_

Elena couldn't hold herself anymore and successfully fell because Arden loosened his grip around her.

But Stefan was fast enough to catch her. She opened her eyes slowly and smiled as she realized she was safe in Stefan's arms. Then she fainted.

"Elena!"

**A/N : Something is happening with her. Uh oh…**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N : Ah finally an update! Sorry for the long wait, I've been busy with this crazy college. Thank you for all the reviews and please give me the new ones for this chapter haha. Hope you enjoy this! :'D**

Elena stirred slightly. Stefan saw that and walked towards her bed and sat at the edge. He grabbed her hand, holding it carefully. Then finally she opened her eyes slowly.

"Elena?" he called, bringing one hand to her cheek and caressing it. Elena closed her eyes again, wanting to feel his warm hand for a little while. "Baby?" he called again as he began to more worry. He saw her tried to open her eyes, but why she stopped?

She did it again, trying to open her eyes until she saw the blurry version of Stefan in front of her. She saw that he smiled. But not the smile that he always gave to her. His smile was different this time, too much sadness and worry.

"Ste…fan?" she said, opening her mouth carefully. Stefan bent down to kiss her forehead.

"I'm here." he answered as he pulled away some to look at her eyes.

"So… Sorry…" she said again weakly. Her voice was still almost like a whisper. Stefan only nodded and smiled sadly. "I.. I made you worried, didn't I?" she asked, grinning as wide as she could and holding back his hands. Stefan pulled away more and kissed her hands.

"Indeed." he whispered. "But I'm glad you're okay now." he added as he caressed her hair. Elena closed her eyes again. His hand calmed her so much. "You want to sleep again? Does anything hurt?"

She opened her eyes slowly and smiled a little bit at him. "Yeah, I guess... I'm still sleepy." she paused, collecting some energy to continue. "Nothing… Nothing hurts anymore…"

Stefan smiled. "Okay. Then you can go back to sleep." he leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Goodnight." he said as his lips left her cheek. But suddenly one of Elena's hands gripped his chin, brought his face back to hers and kissed him on the lips. Stefan kissed her back with the same tenderness.

"You forgot to give me that." she said, smiling at him. He chuckled then kissed her again quickly.

"Sorry." he whispered. "Go to sleep. I'll be here until you wake up." he sat steady, still holding her hands tightly.

"Kay." she nodded, agreeing his words. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Then Elena closed her eyes again to get more sleep without released Stefan's hands from hers. And Stefan knew that it was the best for her to know that he was always be there for her.

**XXXXXXXX**

Arden was waiting outside. He sneaked out of Elena's room and both of Stefan and Elena didn't realize that. He sighed deeply as he remembered that little scene he saw inside. Stefan and Elena's scene. He clearly could see how much Stefan made her happy by his appearance. How much he made her feel safe by his warm hands. How much he calmed her by his touch and kiss. Was he really _late_?

"Arden!" he heard Jeremy called. He turned his face to see Jeremy and Jenna ran to him then he stood. "Where's Elena?" Jeremy asked as soon as he stood in front of Arden. He just pointed her room with his head.

"She's with Stefan." Arden said. Jeremy looked at him surprisingly. Jenna, who was so worried about Elena, didn't take much time to go to her room. She wanted and needed to see her niece quickly. Then Jeremy followed her behind, leaving Arden alone. He sat again on the chair and leaned his back. He didn't have much to do, except sat there and waited for her until the next morning. He caressed his face desperately. Why did it happen when she was with him anyway?

**ooo**

_After an hour, finally Jeremy stopped his tour in the music store. He bought something this time. Elena had no idea why did he need to buy that thing, he had about ten in Indonesia._

"_And why did you buy it again?" she asked as she looked at the thing._

"_I'm collecting it, Elena." Jeremy answered as he rolled his eyes. Girls wouldn't really understand, or even care about that._

"_That's pretty good." Arden said, pointing Jeremy's new collection. Jeremy just nodded eagerly and looked at Elena just like, 'See? He has taste.' Elena didn't say anything more, knowing if she did that, there'd be a big fight between them in this public place. It wouldn't be good._

"_Dinner? I'm hungry." Jeremy said with his baby face. Elena and Arden just nodded. "Great, we'll go to the Mystic Grill then. I heard that place has so many delicious foods." he decided, starting to walk in front of his sister and neighbor. He was kinda intentional doing that._

_They went from the mall to the Grill within 20 minutes. There were a lot of people which understandable because it was Friday night. After they got a table, they ordered their foods and talked about everything. Mostly about Indonesia. Not waiting too long, their foods came and the conversation went off as they ate._

"_Ah it's a good night." Jeremy said, extending his both hands up to his head after they finished their dinner. Elena rolled her eyes and Arden just chuckled. Jeremy was hyperbole. Then suddenly his phone rang; Jenna called. He stood then walked away from their table without saying anything. Elena and Arden looked at each other, smiling awkwardly._

_Soon Jeremy was back to them, his face was all smiley. "Sorry guys, I have to be home soon, Jenna needs me." he said as he grabbed his glass, drinking the water. Elena raised an eyebrow as she heard that._

"_Is something wrong? Why did she not call me first?"_

_Jeremy smiled. "Don't worry, nothing is wrong, she only needs me to help her move old books from her room to the small closet." he winked. Then he looked at Arden smiling widely. "Sorry man I can't accompany you anymore for tonight. Keep my sister safe, will ya?" he said as he fisted pump with Arden who just smiled and nodded._

"_Call me if you need anything." she said, watching him get ready and wearing his jacket._

"_Sure. Bye both of you." he said as he waved his hand eagerly to both of them. He was giving Arden time with Elena alone and Arden knew that. He was grateful to him for doing that though. They watched Jeremy walked out of the Grill and instantly leaned their backs as the door closed._

"_So do you wanna stay here or walk outside?" Elena asked, wanting to bring the situation become more warm. Arden was thinking about the options then he chose walked outside. He needed some fresh air. After they paid the bill, they made their way out of the Grill and walked outside._

_They were walking to the central park for 30 minutes. They continued their conversation earlier. Arden this, Arden that. Elena this, Elena that. They told all about each other. But Elena didn't tell about Stefan. She thought it'd be weird, mostly because he didn't reply her "Stefan" e-mails. She would wait until she was all ready to tell him about that. She only told him about her regular activities in here._

"_You look pale, Elena. Are you okay?" he asked as he looked at her face carefully._

"_Do I?" she asked back, placing her both of hands on her cheeks. Arden nodded, looking so worry._

"_We should sit down for a while." he said, pulling Elena's hand towards a long wooden chair not so far from them. Elena let him to do it. She was feeling dizzy in all of sudden. They sat on the chair without words. They both didn't know what to say. Then suddenly she threw up._

"_Elena?" Arden called, caressing the back of her neck and began panic. Elena kept throwing up as he did that to her neck. When it's over, he gave her his mineral bottle. "Drink it." he said. Elena nodded and drank it._

"_Sorry you have to see that." Elena apologized as she handed the bottle back to him._

"_It's nothing. I've seen this before." he reminded. Elena gasped quietly as she heard that. Of course he had seen this before, though he knew about **that**. The one who never saw this was Stefan. "Feel better?" he asked again._

_Elena nodded weakly. "Can you… Can you take me home?" she asked, rubbing her forehead as the dizziness came over her again._

"_Yeah. Come on." Arden said. He stood, waiting for Elena to stand as well. But when she tried to stand up, she fell again. She couldn't hold herself anymore. She was too weak. "Elena?" he called. Elena could hear him but couldn't open her eyes or open her mouth. She wasn't fainted, but she was like paralyzed. The next thing she knew was Arden lifted her up with his hands below her body and took her somewhere._

_And finally she knew. He brought her to the hospital._

**XXXXXXXX**

"Where are you, baby bro? I need you now." Damon asked through the phone. Stefan looked at his watch and sighed. 8.40 AM.

"I'm at the hospital. Elena is sick." he answered, slowly standing up from the chair he had sat on after Elena fell into a deep sleep.

"What?" Damon said, too shocked to hear that. "Why?"

"I don't know the full story. But I met her and her best friend in here at the time I was about to go home after visited Katherine." he explained. "What do you need for help?" he added as he made his steps to walk out of the room. He didn't want to wake the three persons inside. Elena, Jenna and Jeremy.

"Ah forget it. I can wait until you come home. Elena needs you more." Damon backed off, understandingly letting him with Elena.

"Are you sure? I can go home now if you need me." Stefan said again as he sitting on a chair in front of Elena's room.

"Yes, pretty much sure." Damon claimed. "Take care of her." he said again.

"Of course. Thanks D. See you later."

"Yeah, see you later Stef." he ended the call.

Stefan locked his phone then put it in his jeans pocket. He didn't see or realize that someone was eyeing him not to far from him. At the time he almost stood, that someone stopped him.

"We need to talk."

Stefan turned to see the voice owner then he saw who he was. Arden. He didn't see him before. From where was he? "About what?" he asked.

"Elena." Arden simply answered. "Not here. Outside." he said again. Stefan followed him behind towards the park. It must be something important that Arden didn't want anyone to know about it.

"Ok. So talk." Stefan gave Arden a command to start.

"Do you know who I am?" Arden asked, standing in front of him. Stefan saw Arden's eyes were serious.

"You're Arden, Elena's best friend." he answered honestly.

"Did she tell you about me?"

"She did a little." he sighed. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Did she tell you about herself?"

"What do you mean?" Stefan asked him again, Arden was seriously making him confused.

"You should ask her by yourself, Stefan. You wouldn't believe if I told you."

"No, tell me now." Stefan insisted.

"It's not my place to tell you. Ask her or wait until she's ready." he looked straight into Stefan's eyes. "And yourself." he added.

Arden started to walk, barely passing him when suddenly Stefan asked again. "Is she… Is she alright?"

Arden sighed and turned around to see him again. Stefan did the same so they were faced to face. "No. I just want you to take care of her. You'll get your answers eventually." he finished his sentence and turned around again. "Take care of her." he said one last time then he left.

Stefan didn't know what to think or say at this moment. Everything that might possible happen to Elena came into his mind and it made him confused. It made him feel weak in all of sudden. His Elena was not alright?

**XXXXXXXX**

"Hey you're awake." Stefan said as he walked in and saw Elena was watching the TV. Elena looked at him and smiled. Her face was still pale but it's a bit better than last night. He made his way towards her then bent down to kiss her. "Where is everyone?" he asked as he pulled away.

"Jeremy and Jenna went home. You didn't see them out there?"

Stefan sat at the edge of her bed and shook his head. "Damon called me then after that I went to the park to get some fresh air." he told her. "Do you need something?" he asked.

"No, thanks." she turned the TV off then looked at him again. "What happened?"

"What what happened?" Stefan asked again. He seemed confused.

"Why did Damon call? Did something happen?"

"Oh that. No, nothing happened. Don't worry." he answered and poked her nose with his finger. But his face was different and Elena noticed that.

"Stefan?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"No, I'm not thinking about anything." he answered, throwing his eyes to the couch. It looked more interesting in all of sudden but Elena knew that he hid something from her.

"Stefan, tell me." she said as she grabbed his hands and caressed it. Stefan looked at her hands above his then her eyes. Her big, warm chocolate eyes. "What's going on?"

He exhaled deeply and stood, releasing her hands from his. Elena looked at him curiously as he walked around her bed then stopped near the other side of her bed. He was now at her left. Her eyes followed wherever he went.

"I want to ask you something." he said, looking at her seriously. Elena knew he was going to ask about something important. Did he know about _that_?

"Shoot it." she answered as she tried to sit on her bed. Stefan held her back and hands as he helped her. Then he stepped back again, keeping their distance. Elena clearly realized that something was up on his mind. She looked at him more curiously. "Stefan, you can ask me anything." she said, reassuring him as she thought he was doubt to ask.

He cleared his throat before he looked at her eyes. "Are you… Uh do you have any kind of disease?"

She was surprised but she didn't want to show it. She furrowed her eyebrows instead. "What kind of disease do you mean?"

Stefan looked at her eyes closely, studying her expression. "Ah forget it. Maybe it's just me." he waved his hand once to her, signaling they should get over it. Elena only smiled and nodded, nervously placing her hair behind her ears. Stefan smiled back at her but he was still curious. He still wanted to know what Arden was talking about.

"Stefan, come here." she said, patting a spot on her bed for him to sit. Stefan smiled and went back to accomplish what she wanted. "You haven't told me yet about your "date" with Katherine." she said playfully. Even though Stefan knew Elena was jealous.

"Pretty good. She was so nice to me." he answered, bringing his face closer to her as he teasing her. Then Elena instantly pinched both of his cheeks.

"Ouch." he said, pulling away from her. "You hurt me, Elena." he added as he caressed his cheeks. He was pouting at her. Elena couldn't hold herself and laughed as she brought her hands back to his cheeks. But this time, she caressed them lovingly.

"Don't make me feel bad that we couldn't have a Friday night date, Stefan." Elena looked at his eyes and smiled. "To be honest, I envied Katherine." she added. Stefan took her hands in his and smiled too.

"You have no idea how much I felt bad too." he smiled wisely. "Think I can make it up?" he asked. Elena brought her face closer to him and nodded.

"Sure." she agreed. Stefan smiled and took the hint. He slowly leaned in and closed his eyes, wanting to kiss her. She wanted to kiss him too, anyway. Or it was what Stefan thought.

Knock. Knock.

Damn.

"Sorry." Elena whispered as they pulled away but quickly kissed his cheek. Stefan sighed disappointedly and nodded.

"Can we come in?" Damon's head popped in after he opened the door a little. Both of Elena and Stefan looked at him surprisingly. Damon saw that and asked, "What? Surprise to see the hottest guy in Mystic Falls came here?"

"Oh please." Someone said from his behind and opened the door wider. "Hello lovebirds." she greeted as she looked at Stefan and Elena.

"Bonnie?" Elena asked, smiling happily. "Come on in." she invited which was gladly accepted by Bonnie and Damon. They walked in and closed the door. "What are you guys doing here?" she asked again.

"Since Stefan said that you're sick, we came to visit you." Bonnie answered as she put the fruit parcel on the small table near Elena's bed. "Do you feel any better?"

"Very much so, thank you." she answered politely. Stefan caressed her hand slightly then stood up, walking towards the couch where Damon was sitting. Bonnie quickly replaced Stefan.

"What happened? Why did you get here?" Bonnie asked again, her face was naturally worried. Elena grinned a little.

"I was feeling dizzy and threw up last night after I accompanied my brother to the mall and had dinner. I think that's because I was too tired." she explained.

"Or you can blame the food that you ate." Damon added. Elena turned her face to see him and nodded.

"Yeah I guess so." she smiled and turned back to see Bonnie.

"At least you're fine now." Bonnie said, grabbing Elena's hand and caressing it.

_Yeah, for now. For now I'm fine…_

Arden was about to open the door when he suddenly heard the noise from the inside. He peeked from the small window at the door and saw Elena with a girl sat on her bed, laughing out loud. Then Stefan walked towards her and caressed her hair playfully. He was all smiley too. Arden couldn't deny that whenever Elena was with Stefan or Stefan was with Elena, all he could see was happiness between the two. He sighed and stepped back, couldn't stand what he just saw. Not wasting time, he turned around and left the room. He needed his own time to think.

**A/N : Thoughts?**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N : Thank you all for your supports! And enjoy this chapter. :)**

"Finally I'm home again. I thought that I'd spend this Sunday at the hospital." Elena let out a sigh as she walked into the house. Stefan was beside her, holding her waist as he helping her walked. He looked at her and smiled which made her smiled too. He led her to the couch then helped her to sit. She wasn't that weak but he was too worried. And Elena didn't mind that. It was good to be taken care of. Especially with the one whom she loved.

"Anything you need?" he asked as he stood steady and looked at the door. Jenna and Jeremy walked in, bringing some Elena's stuff from the hospital. He nodded once as he looked at both. They nodded at Stefan too and walked upstairs. Elena turned her head, smiling at both then looking back at Stefan.

"I'm hungry." she answered.

He bent down and squatted in front of her, grabbing her hands. "What do you want to eat?" he asked again as he caressed them.

"Mmm..."

Stefan waited for her answer patiently and smiled at her. He thought that she was cute when she was thinking about something. He just loved the way she furrowed her eyebrows.

Finally she knew what she wanted to eat. "Sandwich."

This time was for Stefan to furrow his eyebrows then raise one of them. "Just sandwich?"

Elena nodded. "Yeah. I just want to eat something simple."

"Too simple for you right now."

"It's simple for you too." she argued. "I just don't want to make you too busy on making me something."

He furrowed his eyebrows deeper. "That's silly. I'd make you everything you want, you know. I don't care how long it'd take my time."

She grinned. "I know. But now just make it for me, please?"

He sighed and stood up. "Okay. You wait here."

She nodded and mouthed thank you. He bent down some again and kissed the top of her head before walked to the kitchen. Her wishes were his commands, as always.

**XXXXXXXX**

"How's Elena doing?" Arden asked through the phone.

"She's doing fine. She's downstairs with Stefan and Jenna." Jeremy honestly answered. He didn't want to lie to anyone again. Especially not to him.

"That's so good to hear." Arden sighed. "Is Stefan always beside her? Watching her?"

"Yeah. He's been here since we arrived at home." he paused. "Uh actually, he's been there with Elena since Friday night. He went home just when he needed to take a shower and change his clothes." he answered again. "But after all, he never left Elena's side." he added.

Arden nodded and learned Jeremy's words. Stefan really heard what he said at the park. "Great. Now I'm relief."

"Would you like to visit her?" Jeremy asked. He was afraid if his words were hurting him and made him didn't want to come to visit his sister.

"Yeah, but not tonight though." Arden said. "Will she go to school tomorrow?"

"I don't know. I'll let you know tomorrow."

"Okay. Thank you, Jer. Say hi to her." Arden said.

"Sure, man." Jeremy agreed then ended the call. He could hear Elena and Jenna were laughing out loud about something. Probably Stefan was telling them a joke. Then he decided to join them and made his steps downstairs and walked towards the living room.

It's time to get to know more about Stefan.

**XXXXXXXX**

"It's getting harder and harder to say goodbye to you." Stefan murmured between his kisses with Elena. She smiled and placed her hand behind his neck, pulling him to kiss him deeper. He groaned slightly as he returned the same deep kiss.

"Indeed." she agreed, pulling away some to breathe. He placed his forehead against hers as he tried to breathe as well. Then she pulled his down again and kissed him for the millionth times that night. She could feel his lips curved into a smile as they did that.

"I really should go home now." Stefan said, pulling away from her but still cupping her face. She nodded and smiled. He leaned in to kiss her forehead, down to her nose then pecked her lips twice.

She placed her hands on his chest and smiled. "Go home." she commanded. Stefan nodded and released his hands from her face, still smiling then stepping back before turning around and walking to his car. "Stefan!" she suddenly yelled.

He turned around again to see her. "Yes?"

Elena ran a little towards him and hugged him. "I forgot to say thank you." she said, burying her face on his chest and tighter her hug. Stefan chuckled and hugged her back.

"You're welcome, love." he whispered. Elena smiled then pulled away. Stefan caressed her hair then turned around again, continuing his steps towards his car. She followed him behind. After he hopped into his car and turned his car on, he opened the window, said good night and waved at her. She grinned and waved him back as she watched he started to drive to his direction.

"You seem very happy."

Elena gasped then turned around quickly to see who was making her surprised. "Jeremy!" she said, patting his arm once. He grinned as he caressed the spot where she patted.

"I'm very happy." she simply answered, starting to walk into the house slowly. Jeremy did the same and walked beside her.

"He's really a good guy." he commented. Elena turned her face to see him and raised an eyebrow.

"Stefan?"

"Uh-huh." he nodded at her.

"Yeah, he really is." Elena agreed, making more steps. But Jeremy pulled her wrist to make her stop. "What?" she asked as she tried to yank her wrist.

Jeremy released his grip and looked at Elena's eyes directly. "Do you love him?"

She sighed. "Of course I do." she answered without any doubts. "Why are you asking me that?"

He shrugged. "Just want to know." he gave his reason then walked, leaving her speechless. She didn't literally buy his words to be honest. She walked after him then stopped in front of him.

"Are you serious that you just wanted to know?"

He looked at her again and nodded. "I am serious, Elena."

Elena's smile slowly appeared then turned around. "Okay then." she said and stepped forward lightly. Clearly that she was happy.

Jeremy walked beside her again and teased her. "When was your first kiss with him?"

She automatically blushed as she looked at him. Then she quickly ran, entering the house and walking upstairs.

"You're blushing, sister!" Jeremy yelled, more teasing her and closing the door.

"Shut up, Jer!" Elena yelled as well and locked her door. She could hear his laugh that made her smiled as she leaned her back her door.

Well played, Jeremy. Well played.

**XXXXXXXX**

Stefan just hopped out of his car when Bonnie and Damon walked out of the house. She was ready to leave. "Hi Boo." he greeted, locking his car then hugging her.

"Hi Steffy." she greeted back as she pulled away. "How's Elena?" she asked.

Stefan smiled and proudly answered, "She's pretty fine now."

"She is? Great to know." Damon said before Bonnie could say something and helped his fiancé wore her jacket.

Stefan nodded and placed himself near the door as Bonnie walked towards her car with Damon accompanied her then hopped in. He watched she said and gave Damon a goodbye kiss then waved her hand at him. Damon stepped back, standing beside Stefan and waving at Bonnie until her car left the house. Then Damon turned around, patting Stefan's shoulder once and entering the house. Stefan followed him behind and closed the door.

"So 4 more days eh?" Stefan asked.

Damon poured his bourbon to his glass and nodded. "4 more days left then I'll bring my ass out of here."

Stefan chuckled then sat on the couch not far from Damon. "Are you excited?"

Damon looked at him disbelief and sat on the couch in front of him. "Are you kidding me, Stefan? I don't even know what the hell I feel right now." he scoffed as he leaned back. "I'm all excited yet worried and afraid." he told his brother honestly. Stefan looked confused so Damon continued. "I'm worried about you."

Stefan couldn't lie that Damon's words and concern were made him a bit sad. It felt Damon touched the very sensitive spot in his life. He smiled sadly and nodded. "You know, Damon. I'm all this excited, worried and afraid too. You're the only one I've got, beside Uncle Dean. But I can make you sure that I'll be fine." he said as he looked at Damon. "I'll try. Though you're not going to anywhere far right?" he added.

Damon's face went soft and smiled slightly. "You're right brother. You're a grown up man now, even though you're still a student. But I'm sure you can watch yourself." he sighed. "But I'm still gonna make sure sometimes that you won't do something stupid." he drank his bourbon a bit then said again as he pointed his finger at Stefan, "Or I'm gonna kick your ass."

Stefan shook his head and chuckled. "Deal."

"Go to sleep, school tomorrow." Damon reminded. Stefan looked at the old clock behind him then stood up.

"Good night, Damon." he said, making his steps to the stairs after grabbed a glass of mineral water.

'Good night, Stefan' was the last words that Stefan heard before he fell asleep when he was about to send a good night text to Elena. He couldn't hold his sleepiness so he only said that on his mind instead.

Good night Elena. Good night world.

**XXXXXXXX**

"Well, well." Someone started. "A good student shouldn't be in her room at 9 AM in a Monday morning."

Elena turned her head and saw Arden was leaning his side to her door. She was too serious on reading a new novel so she wasn't aware that he was coming. She grinned then tucked her tongue at him. "A good student needs to skip school sometimes, you know." she said, defending herself. "Come on in." she invited as she patted a spot on her bed.

He accepted her invitation then sat on the spot that she patted before. She put her novel on her nightstand after signed the last page she read then sat with fluffy pillows on her back.

"How are you feeling?" Arden asked, placing his hand on her forehead to check her temperature. He got Jeremy's message at 7 AM that told Elena had a fever. But now she's okay.

"Still a bit dizzy." she told him. "Did Jeremy tell you about me this morning?"

"Uh-huh." he said. "You shouldn't have out from the hospital if you haven't felt way better."

"I was all better yesterday."

"Enough with the arguments, guys." Jeremy said as he walked in, bringing a glass of tea and milk for Elena. "You two don't change." he said after he put the glasses on her nightstand.

"Just the way we are, Jer." Arden said and Elena nodded. Jeremy rolled his eyes then out of her room.

"Where are you going?" Elena asked, raising her voice a little bit because Jeremy started walking downstairs.

"I want to continue my game! It's not over yet!" he answered as he faster his steps. Elena just sighed and leaned back some more.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked, opening the conversation. Arden furrowed his eyebrows when he heard that.

"I'm visiting my best friend, is that forbidden?"

Elena laughed quietly and shook her head. "Of course not. Thank you for doing that by the way." she said, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"And uh…" Arden paused, looking at her eyes directly. "I have to go back to Indonesia."

"What, when?" she asked as her eyes widened, completely shocked. "Why are you leaving in all of sudden? Don't you still have a week for holiday?"

"Indeed. But my dad called me last night that I have to prepare for everything for college." he explained. "And I'll be going home tonight."

"Tonight?! This Monday night?!" she yelled. Elena realized that her eyes suddenly went teary. She was just sad that Arden was going to leave too soon. She was still missing him and now he's just gonna leave. Arden saw that and caressed Elena's hair.

"Don't cry please." he whispered.

She scoffed and shook her head but couldn't hold her tears anymore. They fell slowly on her cheeks. "You… You came here unexpectedly and now you're leaving unexpectedly too?"

Arden sighed and looked away. It's hard for him to see her sad. "I can come back here someday." he said, turning his face again to see her.

"I'm still missing you, you know that?" she told him, wiping her tears away with her own hands. Arden smiled slightly and nodded.

"Of course I know that." he answered as he grabbed her hand and caressed it. "And I'm still missing you too, Elena. But you know if my dad wants me to do something, I'll have to do it very soon."

She only nodded and leaned in to hug him. And he let her to soak his shirt with her tears. He knew that he was wrong to make her sad like that but he didn't have choices. He should go home. "There, there. It's alright. I'll come again anytime soon." he said as he caressed her back then pulled away. "And for your information, I'm here for visiting my best friend, not for this kind of brooding situation."

Elena chuckled as she wiped more of her tears and sat steady. "Sorry. I was just too sad to hear the news." she apologized, trying her best to smile. "Now what do you want to do before you leave?"

**XXXXXXXX**

"Stefan. Good to see you here." Jenna said as she opened the door. She immediately could see his worry face. "She's in her room, you can go upstairs." she added, understandingly let him go to see her niece.

Stefan nodded politely as he walked in. "Thank you, Jenna." he said, patting her shoulder once and walking upstairs. He knocked her opened door, bringing her back to the reality from her sci-fi fantasy novel and smiling at her as he walking in. "Hey." he greeted, quickly making his steps to her bed and hugging her tightly. "I missed you."

She sat some and hugged him back happily. "I missed you too." she said, caressing his back.

"Sorry for coming this late, my entire family is coming to my house for Damon's wedding and I have to be there for them." he told her as he pulled away and cupped her face. "But now I'm all yours." he added and kissed her chastely. "But not for all night long though." he continued to kiss her. "Hope you're okay with that." he said again, still kissing her a few times.

She groaned slightly and said, "Stop talking while we're making out." then she brought her hands up to his hair, caressing them lovingly and pulling his head closer.

Stefan murmured 'uh-huh' as his agreement and kept kissing her. He didn't even understand why he would kiss her so many times like that. Maybe he was just missing her. Hell, he missed her so damn much that he even couldn't concentrate at classes. And worried too because he knew she got fever this morning.

After they finished their made out session, Stefan led Elena to her backyard. She didn't understand why he would bring her there, but now she got the point. He knew that she needed a place to relax, even though it meant sat on the ground at her backyard with him. So there they were, being closer to each other. Elena placed herself in front of him before he pulled her into his chest, leaning her back there and placing her head on his shoulder. His arms securely went around her to keep her closer and placed his chin on the top of her head. They didn't say anything for a few minutes, just enjoying the view of the full moon.

"Thank God it's not raining." she said as she exhaled, feeling he tightened his arms around her as he chuckling.

"Otherwise I wouldn't bring you here."

"Yep." she simply said. Just then they saw an airplane crossed the sky. "That's probably Arden's plane."

"I met Arden today." Stefan told her after he looked at the airplane. "He came to school and wanted to talk to me." he added, completely being honest with her.

Elena played his fingers with hers and asked, "Yeah? About what?"

Stefan bent down some to whisper in her ear, "That he had to go back to Indonesia and mostly about you." Heard his words, Elena automatically [and with panic face] sat steady and turned around to see him. She was afraid and worried that Arden might tell him her biggest secret that she didn't want Stefan to know. Yet.

"What was he talking about?"

Stefan shrugged. "He just wanted me to take care of you." He looked at her eyes and smiled. "Don't worry, Elena. Even if he didn't say that, I'd always take care of you." he said again, caressing her cheeks. He was kinda wrong on reading Elena's eyes but well… That's okay for now. Elena sighed deeply as she heard that and moved to have their first position back, sat in front of him and let his arms went around her.

"I thought that…" she hesitated.

"Thought what?" he asked, bringing his lips to kiss her temple.

"Umm… Nothing?" she unsurely answered.

"Elena." he warned, indicating he didn't like that she kept her thoughts on her mind.

She bit her bottom lip to avoid her said something. _Not now, Elena._ She told herself. Then she yawned instead, moving her head a little to get more comfortable on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Stefan didn't say anything but only chuckled.

"Guess it's time to sleep? Come get inside then." he said, looking down as he trying to look at her face but failed.

"Mmm no. Stay here for a little bit longer." she refused then snuggled more into his embrace.

Chuckling more and smiling, he tightened his arms around her again and kissed her hair. "Okay. Good night, Elena."

"Good night, Stefan." she said, holding his arms and smiling too. Stefan didn't move even for an inch. He just sat there, holding and embracing his sleepy girlfriend and watching the clear sky. Then he closed his eyes as well, enjoying the warmness between them.

This moment was precious for both of them after all.

**A/N : So what did you think, liked it or not? And do you have any requests/suggestions for the next chapter? Please let me know and thank you for reading! :D**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N : Writer's block won over me. But I'd like to say thank you so much to all of you for the reviews and tips! I'll try to be better. :')**

Finally today was the day. It was the day for Stefan to have an official sister in law. It was the day for Bonnie Bennett to change her name into Bonnie Salvatore. It was the day for Damon to get out of the Salvatore boarding house and leave Stefan alone. It was the day for everyone being sentimental because of the vows that they're going to hear. It was the special day; the wedding day.

Stefan was staring at his brother who was standing in front of the biggest window in his room. He could feel the different atmosphere in there. He didn't know whether it was because Damon was going to get married or it was because he was sad, knowing he would leave this house tonight after the party. But he did know really well that Damon was happy. And so he was.

Damon exhaled deeply then lowered his head as he closed his eyes. He looked so nervous yet excited; Stefan could see that clearly. "You're watching me, baby bro." Damon suddenly said as he smiled, tilting his head up and looking at Stefan. "It's not for free you know."

Stefan chuckled then took a few steps to enter the room. "Yeah… I know, typical Damon." he answered. He stopped near the bed and looked at it. Damon followed Stefan's eyes then smiled slightly.

"You're gonna miss me, aren't you?" Damon asked, walking towards Stefan then stopped near him. "But don't you dare to touch or even sleep on my bed even though I'm leaving this house." he added, patting Stefan's shoulder slowly.

Stefan laughed a bit. "Yeah I'm gonna miss you, Damon. But what does a bed mean if it's not for people to sleep on it?" Stefan asked teasingly. Damon quickly placed his arm around Stefan's neck, lowering Stefan's head near his chest then placed his fisted hand on his brother's head, pretending to hit him.

"So do you still dare to sleep on my bed?" Damon asked again.

Stefan, who was still laughing answered, "Maybe." His answer only made Damon get more eager to make Stefan suffer by tightening his grip around his neck. Stefan laughed again then growled as he tried to get out of Damon's arm but it was useless. Damon was stronger than him. Stefan apologized but Damon kept hitting his head playfully, even though he was laughing too. Both of them knew it was a precious moment, so neither both of them wanted to end it.

While Damon and Stefan were having a moment, they didn't realize that someone was watching them. She smiled at herself as she watched the scene through the door. She could see how good they were to each other. She also could see that they both were sad from their faces, but it was understandable. She reached the door knob then closed the door slowly as she kept watching the brothers. They needed their own time before the wedding started.

**XXXXX**

"I do." Bonnie said confidently, looking at her (just got to be) husband with teary eyes. Damon looked at her and smiled, showing her that he was happy to hear those words that came from her mouth. She smiled back then quickly leaned in to seal her vow with a kiss. Everyone clapped their hands as it happened, giving their blessings to the couple who were an official thing now.

Elena clapped her hands as she stood beside Stefan. She was so happy to see Damon and Bonnie were happy. Stefan looked at her then lingered his hand around her shoulder. Elena smiled then looked at him shyly. Before Elena knew, Stefan bent down some and kissed her lightly. "Have I told you that you look absolutely amazing today?" he asked as he pulled away from her.

"Twice." she answered, blushing then removing her lip gloss on Stefan's lips with her thumb. "And you look absolutely gorgeous yourself." she said, giving a compliment back for him. Stefan smiled then kissed her forehead.

"Come on, we should say something to Damon and Bonnie." he said again, pulling Elena's hand with his as he leading them towards the couple. Damon was kissing Bonnie once more when Stefan and Elena reached them. Elena blushed again and closed her eyes, completely felt embarrassed just like a kid with what she saw; "people were kissing" scene. Stefan cleared his throat, letting them know that he was there.

Damon broke the kiss then looked at Stefan. "What now? You want to get my permission to sleep on my bed? The answer is still no." he asked sarcastically. Bonnie looked at Damon confusedly. "He wants to sleep on my bed." Damon explained, smirking as he looking back at her. Stefan rolled his eyes then released Elena's hand to hug Bonnie, which meant moved Damon away from his wife. "Hey!" he screamed, feeling didn't like the idea.

But Stefan seemed didn't care though. He kept hugging Bonnie and smiled widely. "Congrats, Mrs. Salvatore. Wish you'll be forever happy with him." he told her. Bonnie hugged him tighter and kissed the back of his head.

"Thank you, brother in law." she answered as she pulled away from him. Bonnie was smiling ever so widely that people could see her happiness through her smiles very clearly.

"It's too bad that you got married with him…" Stefan said, hanging the end of his words. Suddenly Damon stepped closer to his back and whispered sharply.

"What's wrong with _him_?"

Stefan quickly turned around then faced Damon. "Oh nothing's wrong. He's just so sensitive about sharing bed." after he said that, he tried to moved away from him but he's too late. Damon already had him in the same position as they were in his room this morning. Both of Bonnie and Elena were speechless but then laughed at the boys. Some people around them did too. It was so entertaining for them.

Then Elena threw her eyes to Bonnie. She hadn't said anything to her. "Congratulations, Bonnie. I hope nothing but the best for both of you." she finally said as she walked forward then hugged the bride. Bonnie caressed her back and kissed the back of her head too, just like what she did to Stefan. "You look so beautiful today." Elena added, pulling away from her.

"You do too, Elena. You always look beautiful to be honest." Bonnie said. "And thank you for your prayers, those mean a lot to me and Damon." she thanked her. Elena's face reddened as she smiled. Then Damon reached over Bonnie to get her dance with him. She looked at Elena apologetically who was giving her a nod. After Bonnie and Damon left Elena completely alone, she looked around to find Stefan.

"There he is." she said to herself quietly as she stopped her eyes on him. Didn't take more time, she literally walked towards him who was actually standing not far from her as he kept staring at her. She couldn't help but smiled nervously as she walked. Stefan always did that to her. Made her nervous or blushed but she always enjoyed that. She enjoyed everything that came from Stefan.

When Elena stopped her steps in front of him, he extended his hand, signaling that he wanted to take her for a dance. Elena shook her head unbelievably but still took his hand. They walked together to the dance floor then took a place near Damon and Bonnie. She put her hands around Stefan's neck while his were on her waist. They danced slowly, following the music rhythm. Then other people started to dance too, not wanting to lose the chance for a dance.

Thank God, everything was perfect for today.

**XXXXX**

Katherine was finally out of the hospital. She got back to her home since 3 days ago but no one came to visit her. She didn't care though. She didn't want people to see how bad her condition was. But she had to admit that she wanted Stefan to come. But again, she knew that Elena would come too if Stefan came to visit her. Thought about Elena made her kind of sick honestly. Her jealousy and ego were still the biggest until now.

"Do you need something else?" Leah asked, entering her room then sat on the chair near the bed.

Katherine was sitting on her bed with pillows at her back to support her position. She looked at her mom then shook her head. "I'm just bored." she told her as she turned the magazine pages randomly. She had read that three times today. Leah didn't say anything but sighed quietly. Her daughter was still the same. She actually hoped that she would change, even for a bit after the accident. But she was still the old Katherine.

"Is your chest still in pain?" she asked again, making sure if she needed to give her daughter another analgesic drug or not.

Katherine sighed then answered, "It's not a big deal."

"Yes Mom, it's not a big deal." someone suddenly said. Both of Leah and Katherine automatically turned their heads to see who was talking. It was Bryan, Katherine's dad; he was standing near her door. "The big deal is about your pregnancy, Katherine. And you lost the baby." he continued.

Katherine threw the magazine to the nightstand. "I told you, Dad, I don't want to talk about this."

But Bryan didn't stop. He walked towards the bed then crossed his arms over his chest. "Who's the baby's father?" he asked, using his best intimidate voice.

Katherine preferred locked her mouth.

"Was he Stefan?" Leah asked her smoothly. "You have to tell us who was he, Kat. So we could tell him that you were pregnant before the accident happened."

"No, please don't tell Stefan." Katherine begged. "Just don't."

"Why not? Was he the father?" Bryan asked again, more intimidating. He's just tired to make Katherine tell them who was the father. His patience almost reached its limit.

Katherine looked at her father uncertainly. She really wanted to tell them who the father of her baby was but she was afraid Stefan would know that she was pregnant. He would be so disappointed at her if he knew the truth. But she had no choice now. "No, it's not Stefan." she finally answered. "It's James."

"Who's James?" Leah quickly asked.

"You don't know him. He's my biology partner at school."

"Don't you still in relationship with Stefan?"

Katherine a bit shocked when she heard that. But then she shook her head no. "I broke up with him a long time ago." she honestly told them.

"Give me James' number so I can call him. Now." Bryan ordered. Katherine took her phone near the pillow then searched James' number in her contact lists. After she pressed the call button, she gave it to Bryan nervously. He accepted it then walked out of her room. This was a man to man talk.

**XXXXX**

"Let's go, wifey. We don't want to miss the flight, do we?" Damon asked as he stood then grabbed their things. It was honeymoon time for Damon and Bonnie. They bought tickets to Venice, the most romantic city in the world. Bonnie, Stefan, Elena, Uncle Dean and Tara, Stefan and Damon's auntie, stood up as well and started to hug the couple before they left.

Stefan was the first who hugged Damon. "Take care of my new sister." he said as he patted Damon's back. Damon chuckled then pulled away. "She's my wife. Of course I'll take care of her." Damon reassured him. Stefan patted his brother's shoulder once and turned to his right to hug Bonnie. Then Elena went towards Damon to hug him.

"Congrats again, you two. Have a save flight." she said.

"Roger!" Damon answered, pulling away from her. "Please take care of my baby bro, he can't do anything right without me." Elena only smiled and looked at Stefan who was rolling his eyes because he heard what Damon said.

Bonnie walked slowly to them then stood in front of Elena. Elena looked at her, smiling as she hugging her. "Have a safe flight, Bonnie. Have fun too." she said.

"We will. Thank you." she thanked her again. After they had a few more hugs from Uncle Dean and Aunt Tara, the bride went off to Venice. The rest of them went home separately. Stefan drove Elena home while Uncle Dean went back to the boarding house with Aunt Tara. They wanted to clean the mess after the party. But after all, today was over. Finally.

**XXXXX**

"Please let me?" Elena begged as she looked at Caroline hopelessly. It's been a week since Elena didn't come to join her cheerleader friends. She wanted to exercise with the team, knowing there would be a football match with High Scope in 3 weeks. Caroline crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Elena sternly.

"No, Elena. You just got out of the hospital a few days ago. You can black out again if you're too tired and I don't want to take that risk."

"I'm fine, Care." Elena reassured her. "I want to be the part of the team. I promise that I'll behave. I'll tell you once I get tired. Please, please, please?" she added, begging more because she was hoping that her words would make Caroline changed her mind.

"You're still a part of the team, Elena. But not today, okay?"

"But…" she tried to against her words again. Caroline widened her eyes at Elena, indicating that she didn't want to hear another words from her. Elena closed her mouth then sighed heavily. "Fine. But I want to join you tomorrow." she said, giving Caroline her deal.

"It's my decision, dear. We'll see tomorrow. If you still look pale or weak, I still don't want you to exercise. Got it?" Caroline told her as she placed her hands on her waist. Both of Elena and Caroline were stubborn, but this was Caroline's will. She was the chief and Elena should hear and obey her words.

"Fine." Elena said, rising her both hands as she stepping back. She turned around, walked towards the bench and sat there. She was just allowed to watch the team today. Caroline smiled widely at her, feeling satisfied because Elena flapped the white flag at her. Then she ran to the field to join the girls.

_40 minutes later…_

Elena was bored. She didn't have anything else to do besides sat at the bench and watched the girls. She wanted to learn some moves but Caroline was right, she was still weak. She couldn't jump as high as she could before she got into the hospital. She had to recharge her energy.

Deciding to get some fresh air, she stood up then looked around. The school was already empty because it was almost 6 PM. She looked at Caroline and her friends once again before sneaked out to the boys' place. Maybe it's a bit cheesy but she missed Stefan. They only met at lunch time and hadn't met again since.

Stefan and other football players were still playing when Elena came. Then she took the place at the corner of the bench so people wouldn't see her. She realized that she was smiling at herself while watching Stefan. He was so good at football and that made Elena proud of him.

"Okay boys, time off!" the coach yelled then blew his whistle. The boys literally stopped the game then ran to the coach to hear some evaluations for today's game. Elena quickly turned around, preventing to be seen by anyone then continuing her steps to random places. She still wanted to get some fresh air before went home.

After the coach told the boys about the evaluations, they sat on the bench where Elena was standing before. Matt sat near Stefan who was still drinking his mineral water then staring at the field. "What's wrong?" Matt asked.

Stefan shook his head no. "Nothing." he simply answered. Then suddenly he heard someone called him. "Did you hear that?" he asked Matt, making sure if he wasn't the one who heard the voice.

"Heard what? I didn't hear anything." Matt asked back.

Then Stefan looked around, searching the voice source.

_Stefan! No no!_

He heard that again. But when he recognized whose voice it was, he felt like someone slapped him.

"It's her." he said, feeling weak in all of sudden. "It's Elena." he added as he quickly stood from the bench and started to run, following the voice source with his instinct.

"Stefan!" Matt called him. But it was useless because Stefan was running as fast as he could. "Shit!" he said then followed him. Other boys were looking at them confusedly. What happened actually?

_Elena please, where are you?! _ He tried to call her in his mind as he kept running with his instinct, hoping that she would hear that. He couldn't think properly right now, he was too scared.

_Stefan…_

Elena started to cry, Stefan knew that from her voice. She was trembling so hard and he could feel the fear. She was in danger!

"Please be okay…" Stefan whispered to himself. "Please be okay…"

Then he heard someone screamed.

**A/N : I hate cliffhanger too. I really do.**

**But I'd love to get some reviews. :3**

**Thank you for reading!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N : Bad feelings? It's even worse.**

_Elena's voice. It was Elena. It was Elena… _Stefan couldn't stop thinking about her until he heard someone screamed. Then he ran to an empty field across his school. He was sure Elena was there. He kept running and running until he saw a girl laid down on the ground, fighting weakly against a man who was on top of her as she cried and begged him to stop ripping her clothes.

_No… No Elena. No… _"Elena!" he called, feeling weak in all of sudden. The man looked at Stefan then tried to run. Fortunately, Stefan was quicker than him. And plus, his anger was consuming him by now. "Stay away…" he said angrily, continuing his steps towards the man, "from Elena!" he yelled as he grabbed the man's shirt and hit him right on his face. Elena couldn't move but she could see how hard Stefan hit the man and how many times he did it.

"Stefan! Stop!" Matt suddenly yelled as he kept running towards Stefan and the man. He pulled Stefan's hand but Stefan was stronger, it only made him fell behind him. "Shit!" Matt cursed and stood, trying again to make Stefan stop hitting the man by lingered his arms around Stefan. "I said stop!"

"NO! THIS SON OF A BITCH HAS TO DIE!" Stefan yelled back, looking at the man deadly then hitting him once again.

"Stefan you idiot! If he died, you'd be the one who have to pay! Prison Stefan, prison!" Matt yelled again. "It's over! He won't fight you back!" he added as he pulled Stefan as far as he could from the man. Stefan stepped back, following Matt's feet but kept looking at the man who now was lying on the ground. Matt was right, he wouldn't fight back. All over his face was bleeding and almost fainted.

"You're lucky I didn't kill you." Stefan said coldly to the man. Matt literally shivered when he heard that. Stefan never said something like that in that kind of tone before. Then he released his hand around Stefan to let him ran towards Elena. "Oh Elena…" Stefan called her weakly as he knelt down beside her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" he said, pulling her into his embrace carefully.

Elena didn't and couldn't say anything right now. She was still in shock and now only Stefan who could hold her and reassured her that everything's gonna be okay. She only sobbed and hung on Stefan's shoulder like her life depended on it. Stefan tightened his arms around her then kissed her head. "I'm here, baby. I'm here." he said.

Matt exhaled deeply as he turned around to face the couple. "I called 911. You should take Elena out of here, Stefan. I'll be here until the cops come." Matt said. Then suddenly Caroline and other students came. Caroline directly walked towards Stefan and Elena, kneeling down beside them as she caressing Elena's shoulder.

"What happened, Stefan?" she asked. Stefan shook his head, telling her to not ask now. Then she looked at the man who was on the ground not far from them. "Was he…?"

"Caroline." Matt called her before she could finish her question. Caroline stood then walked towards Matt. "That man almost "did it" to Elena. But Stefan came just in time before he could rip Elena's clothes." he explained, whispering to her ear. "Don't ask anything to Elena for a while. Just help her to get a towel or clothes, she needs them." he added.

Caroline gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, biting one of her nail. "Did you know him?" she asked, throwing her eyes to the man.

"No. I've never seen him before." he answered, doing the same like Caroline was doing. "Just take care of Elena and make people leave this place. The cops will be here in a few more minutes." Matt ordered. Caroline sighed then nodded. She turned around then bent down some beside Stefan. Elena was still in Stefan's embrace and sobbing.

"I'll take new clothes for her. You wait here." Caroline told him. Stefan nodded and mouthed thank you. Caroline caressed Elena's hair then stood steady, asking people to leave and making her steps back to school to grab things for Elena.

**OOO**

**At school - **

After the cops got enough of Elena, Stefan and Matt's explanations, they left and arrested the man. No one knew who he was so Stefan asked them to let him know if they had the man's further information. Elena might don't want to know about him, but Stefan wanted it, needed it to make sure that man wouldn't do anything bad to Elena again in the future.

"Stefan, I think you should take her to the hospital." Caroline suggested as Stefan came and stood in front of her and Elena's chairs. He didn't answer but knelt down then took Elena's hand with his. He looked so concern about her, that's what Caroline could see. Heck, he wasn't only concerned about her, but she could see that he was sad, angry and depressed too.

"Do you want to go to the hospital?" Stefan asked carefully, caressing her hand lightly with his thumb. Elena looked at him then shook her head.

"Can you… Bring me… Home?" Elena asked huskily. Stefan couldn't hide his sadness from his eyes as he heard her words. And quite truthfully, he was blaming himself for what happened to her.

"Stefan…" Caroline tried to against Elena's will but he quickly nodded to her, telling her to not worry. Caroline shut her mouth then sighed. She forgot that Elena was as stubborn as she was and didn't like to be beaten by anyone.

"I'll take you home. You wait here okay? I'll get my car." Stefan answered, caressing her hand once again before stood then left to the parking lot to take his car. Elena watched Stefan's back as he walked then closed her eyes.

"Still hurt?" Caroline asked slowly. Elena opened her eyes then smiled slightly.

"Yes..." she answered weakly. Then Caroline only caressed her arms up and down carefully, hoping that it'd help her. "Care?" she called after a few moments.

"Yeah?"

"Stefan… Stefan is hurt too…"

"Elena…"

"Not physically but he… He probably is embarrassed… He's embarrassed that… His girlfriend almost…"

"Ssh, ssh, Elena. Stop it." Caroline said as she looked at her sternly. "Don't say that again. Ever."

Elena smiled again. "You just don't know… about it Caroline…" she told her. "You have no… idea how it felt like…" she added then flinched some because her body was still hurt. Caroline didn't say anything more because she lost her words. So she just got closer to Elena and caressed her hands lightly instead.

"Ready?" Stefan suddenly appeared then extended his hand to help Elena get up. "Thank you Caroline." he said as he faced her. Then he walked, bringing Elena in his arms to help her get into his car with Caroline followed them behind. After he closed Elena's seat door, he thanked Caroline again then quickly hopped in to the drive seat to bring Elena home.

**XXXXX**

"How is she?" Stefan asked Jenna as soon as she walked into the living room. She took care of Elena's wounds and helped her to take a bath after they got home.

"She's sleeping and Jeremy is with her." she told him. "Tell me what did exactly happen, Stefan." she said, taking a seat in front of him. "Who did this?" she asked. Her eyes both were teary as she kept staring at Stefan, waiting for him to speak.

Stefan gulped then answered her. "No one of us knew who he was, Jenna, but the cops promised me to let me know once they get more information about him." Jenna learned his words then asked him again to tell her about the whole story. Then he did it. He told her the whole story, including when he heard Elena's voice in his mind. Even though she seemed don't believe it but Stefan didn't mind. It was up to her to believe it or not.

Jenna kept listening to Stefan's words but the more she heard them, the more she felt like want to kill that man. She fisted her hand angrily when Stefan ended the story.

"I want to kill him." she said firmly, standing up from the couch. Stefan looked at her unbelievably. "I want to kill him for touching my niece!" she yelled, ready to leave. But Stefan quickly held her wrist.

"Believe me, Jenna, I want to do it too. I almost killed him even, if Matt didn't forbid me. But at least he is arrested now." Stefan said. But Jenna's anger was bigger than his calm. She tried to yank her hand but he tightened his grip again. "I know you feel terrible because I do too, Jenna. I do too. But please for now, we have to keep supporting Elena. I know this is a very big deal for her. Please…" Stefan begged her as he lowered his head, hiding his teary eyes.

Hearing Stefan begging, she instantly calmed down from her anger then hugged him. She should've known this was not easy for Stefan too as Elena's boyfriend. "I'm sorry, Stefan. You might feel the worst too." she said, patting Stefan's back. He didn't say anything but then pulled away.

"I want to see her before leave." Stefan told her quickly. She stepped back, letting him to make his moves towards the stairs then ran upstairs. She looked at the ceiling, avoiding her tears to fall down onto her cheeks. But she couldn't hold it any longer. And she finally let them out of her eyes as she sat on the couch before she fell to the floor.

**OOO**

Jeremy was taking his phone in his room when he suddenly heard someone was sobbing. Then he ran to Elena's bedroom through the bathroom but stopped as soon as he realized it wasn't Elena. Her room was all dark but he could recognize that it was Stefan. He was kneeling down beside Elena's bed and his hands were holding one of hers. Stefan didn't say anything at first, letting the sadness, anger and pressure out of his heart with tears. But after a few moments, he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I wasn't there when it happened. I wasn't there to protect you. I wasn't there to fight for you before it happened." he said, caressing her forehead with his thumb. "It should've been not happened even." he added, starting to sob again. Elena was right about him; that he was hurt too. "I'm so sorry, baby, I'm so sorry." he apologized again and again as he buried his face near their hands.

Jeremy couldn't stand the view so he went downstairs and found Jenna was all silent. She didn't cry but her eyes were empty, like she was falling into depression. Her face was flat. He knew that Jenna might need her own time to be alone then he decided to sit on the chair at the porch. He needed to calm himself as well. He exhaled deeply and walked out of the house to the porch.

**Elena's bedroom -**

Stefan had stopped sobbing but still couldn't get rid the sadness off of his mind. He felt terrible, terrified and everything (mentally) was hurt. He kept holding her hand with one hand as his other hand caressed her hair and face. He didn't say anything but blamed himself for what happened today. Although he knew it was an "accident" but it still made him feel bad as a boyfriend who couldn't protect his girlfriend.

"I love you." he whispered to her ear, hoping that she would know and hear those words. "So much." he added as he felt another tears fell down onto his cheeks. Then he released her hand from his and stood up slowly. He looked at her once again before bent down some to kiss her forehead and kept saying that he loved her.

After that he stood steady, turning around before he began to sob again in front of her and quickly walking out of her room. But unknown to Stefan, Elena heard all of his words. She could feel the sadness that he had from his sob. Yet she still could feel his warmness from his kisses. But she couldn't open her eyes.

No, this wasn't because she was too weak to do it but she didn't want to see him sobbing in front of her eyes. She didn't want to hurt him. She didn't want to make Stefan feel more embarrassed by looking at her.

Slowly, Elena opened her eyes then let a single tear wet her side of her face. "I love you too, Stefan. So much." she whispered to herself, hoping that he could hear that. But without any warnings, her whispers changed into sob that got louder and louder every second. She turned her head slightly so she could bury her face on her pillow until she fell into a deep sleep.

**XXXXX**

"She doesn't want to meet anyone." Jeremy said to Caroline and Matt who was coming to visit Elena on the next day. Stefan was standing behind them, looking at Jeremy sadly. "Stefan, I need to talk to you." he said again, looking back at Stefan directly. Then he walked out of the house towards the yard with Stefan following him behind. Matt and Caroline turned a glance to each other.

"Caroline, Matt, hi." Jenna greeted politely as she walked downstairs and stopped in front of Elena's friends. "He's Jeremy, Elena's brother." she told them.

"Ah yes, Elena told me once that she had a brother." Caroline said. "He lives in Indonesia, doesn't he?" she asked.

"Yes. He's here only for holidays." Jenna answered. "So would you like to see Elena?" she asked.

"Doesn't Elena want to meet anyone?" Matt took his chance to ask.

Jenna smiled sadly. "You'll know once you meet her."

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked confusedly.

"Just go upstairs." Jenna said. Matt and Caroline looked at each other more confusedly.

But they really wanted to see Elena so nothing else mattered. "Okay then." Matt agreed. Then they both walked upstairs to see Elena.

**OOO**

"Jenna told me everything." Jeremy said, opening the conversation. "Have you got more information about him?" he asked as he turned around to look at Stefan.

Stefan shook his head, knowing who Jeremy was talking about. "Not yet. Soon, hopefully." he answered.

"Did you… Seriously hear her voice in your mind?" Jeremy asked again uncertainly, changing the topic. Quite truthfully, he didn't believe it since he was a realistic person.

Stefan shrugged. "You may don't believe it, but it happened. I heard her voice in my mind before she screamed." he said calmly. He wasn't lying though, didn't matter if no one believed him. "Hey, Jer." he called. "Does she really not want to meet anyone?"

Jeremy stood still, didn't know what to say. Yes, Elena said that but actually it was for Stefan, the one who she did not want to meet for a while. But he couldn't say the truth so he only said yes instead.

Stefan sighed as he nodded understandingly. "I got it. She needs her own time." he said wisely. He looked at the door for a bit then looked at Jeremy again. "Say hi to Jenna. I'm leaving now." he added, patting Jeremy's shoulder then walking towards his car. He also needed his own time and Jeremy really knew that.

**OOO**

"So Jeremy lied to us." Matt concluded.

"Not him, Matt. But me." Elena defended her brother. "I was the one who asked him to not let Stefan come to see me." she added.

"Why are you doing this, Elena?" Caroline asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Elena firmly. "What did he do wrong?"

"He didn't do anything wrong, Caroline." Elena answered weakly. "I just don't want to see him for a while."

"Even after he helped you? After he did all of this for you?" she asked again, half yelling. Matt quickly grabbed her shoulder to stop her.

Elena jerked then lowered her head. "Yes. Even after all of this." she said.

"You're so stupid, Elena!" Caroline cursed.

"Caroline!" Matt yelled as he grabbed her wrist, trying to pull her out of Elena's room. But she yanked her hand angrily.

"Yesterday you told me that Stefan was hurt too but now you're hurting him more, Elena. Do you even realize that?" Caroline asked again. "It's enough to see how selfish you are." she stated.

Elena jerked some more then looked at Caroline with teary eyes. "You just don't know how it feels Caroline! I'm afraid! I'm embarrassed! I'm confused as hell but no one of you can understand that!" she yelled back.

"Maybe I don't know how it feels like, but if I were you, I wouldn't forbid Stefan to see me. I would rather feel more hurt because of him than hurting him!" Caroline argued back. Matt grabbed her wrist again but before he could pull her out, he saw Elena fisted her hands then turned her head, not wanting to see them.

"Leave. Please leave." Elena said, shivering because of her sadness and anger was in her nerves.

"Gladly." Caroline answered coldly then led Matt walked out of the room. Elena let her tears fell harder as she heard Caroline slammed the door behind her.

"You'll break my door, Care." Elena whispered, cheering herself up. But it was useless because her ego already won over herself, relationship and also friendship. It really broke her.

And the bad part was… it was too late to feel regret.

**A/N :** **:(**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N : So sorry for taking 8 months straight to update. And I'm answering a question in reviews, no, English is not my first language and for that, I apologize for the wrong grammars or anything in this story. Anyway, thanks for waiting! :)**

"Is he here?" Elena asked as Jenna came into her bedroom, bringing a plate of fruits and a glass of milk for her breakfast. Jenna didn't say a word but nodded instead. "What is he doing?" Elena asked again, watching Jenna carefully.

"You know what, if you really want to know, why don't you just go downstairs and meet him so you will know what he is doing right now?" Jenna asked, placing her hands on her hips. She was kind of desperate facing her niece. Elena has been refused to meet Stefan for a whole month whereas Stefan always took his time to visit her. And it annoyed Jenna a lot.

Elena sighed before she answered Jenna then sat on her bed. "You know I… I can't do that."

"Why the hell not?" Jenna argued. "Elena, it's been a month." she reminded.

"Jenna…"

"Stop." she pointed her hand up. "I don't understand how it feels but it's over Elena, it's already over. You knew that Stefan helped you-"

"Yeah, I know he helped me." Elena cut her aunt's words. "But it's not that easy."

"Oh God!" Jenna groaned. "Elena, he helped you and he still came here to visit you. Not just for one day but every day! Every day he comes but you refuse him. Do you know how sad he is?"

Elena stood still, wasn't sure what to say. Jenna exhaled deeply before continued, "He is a mess, Elena. He is completely mess and all he needs is you. Now, be wise and meet him downstairs." then she left Elena alone in her room, not wanting to take this fight any further. The voice of the slammed door reminded Elena that Jenna was right.

It's been way too long and she needed to talk to him.

Or even just to say hi.

**OOO**

"Is everything okay? I heard you yell." Stefan asked Jenna as soon as she reached the last stairs. His face was worried and Jenna could see that clearly.

"Not with that stubborn teenage girl." she answered sharply, continuing her steps to the kitchen then sat on the chair.

"She's still dealing, Jenna." Stefan said, trying to calm her down.

"It's not even a deal anymore, Stefan. It's about 'when was she gonna grow up?' It's been a month and she still doesn't want to see you. How pathetic is that?" she blurted out. "Gosh!"

Stefan sighed tiredly as he took a seat beside her. "All I know is just… she still needs some times, Jenna. She mentally hurts and uh…" he stopped, preparing himself to say something whatever on his mind. "I don't even know how it feels but it hurts me as well. And for me, all I need is her to feel better and safe in her home."

Jenna turned her face to see Stefan then smiled slightly. "She is just lucky to have you, Stefan." she said honestly. "I hope she won't take too long to realize that she actually needs you." she added, caressing Stefan's shoulder then exhaled more deeply.

"She'll be okay." Stefan reassured her. No, he was reassuring himself that she would be okay. They would be okay.

"I know." Jenna smiled once again. "I'm sorry, kid." she added quietly.

"Nothing to be sorry for, Jenna. It's okay." he answered calmly, looking at Jenna's eyes directly and smiling. "You won't mind if I keep staying here, will you?"

Jenna shook her head. "Of course not. She needs you. And believe me, she will come to you, very soon." she winked.

Stefan smiled once again. "Yeah I hope so."

"And by that very soon she talked about, I believe she meant now." someone said.

Stefan's smile faded instantly as he turned his head around and saw Elena stood nervously near the wall. Slow but sure, Stefan's smile returned as he stood up from the chair, reassuring himself that Elena he saw was real, not only his imagination. Elena stood still, smiling sadly at him. She didn't know what to do at first but as soon as she blinked, she was already in his arms.

"Elena." he called. "Elena, Elena, Elena." he called her again and again, feeling happy and relieved at the same time. She could hear his heart was beating so fast and his smile as he kissed her head several times. Elena was hesitant but then she slipped her arms around his waist and placed her head on his chest, hugging him like her life depended on it. Stefan also tightened his arms around her and chuckled loudly, feeling so happy.

Jenna cleared her throat playfully, teasing both of Stefan and Elena. Stefan pulled away from Elena a bit, looking at Jenna happily. Jenna smiled at him then looked at Elena, nodding as a sign that she appreciated what Elena was doing to him right now. "I'll leave you two." she said understandingly, stepping backward before turning around and walking towards the door to leave the house. She had to go to work after all.

Stefan looked at the closed door then back to Elena again. His hands went down to her waist, holding her closer. "So, umm…" he started, only cut by her shaking her head. "What?"

"You don't need to say anything, Stefan. Because I am the one whose should throw the words."

Stefan looked at her confusedly before nodded his head. He got what she meant. But he didn't want to hear anything from her. Not because he didn't respect her but all he need was her standing closer to him. And she was. "_You _are the one who don't need to say anything, 'Lena."

"No, Stef..."

"No, please listen to me." he told her. Slowly he let his hands fell to his side, leaving Elena's waist. She secretly sighed disappointedly as soon as she lost contact with him then looked at her feet. Stefan smiled a little then put his finger under her chin, tilting her head to see her eyes again. "I'm glad you're here, letting yourself to see me when I'm sure you're not ready yet to…" he saw she shook her head again.

She placed her hands on his cheeks, smiling tiredly. "I'm ready, Stefan." she told him. "I'm ready to see you, more than you'd ever know." she caressed his cheek. "I'm sorry for being all this harsh to you by rejecting you every day. I didn't know what to say or do after what happened. I'm sorry for disappointing you, for making you sad." she apologized. "I was confused."

Stefan felt his eyes were a bit teary, he wasn't expecting she would apologize to him where he was the one who should say that word. He wasn't brave enough to break her door and take her to his embrace. He wasn't wise enough to kiss her and say that everything was gonna be okay. He wasn't man enough to keep her safe, from the inside and outside of her. And he was disappointed on himself.

They kept staring at each other's eyes until Elena saw a tear escaped from one of his eyes which Elena didn't know that was a happy tear. She was surprised at first but then smiled sadly again as she wiped the water on his cheek. "I'm standing right in front of you, talking to you but you're feeling sad." she said, pretending to be offended. Stefan chuckled lowly then cupped her face, closing his eyes after that. Elena knew what was gonna happen next so she did the same and leaned in to him.

"There was something in my eyes." Stefan whispered, his lips barely touching hers.

"Liar." Elena stated, laughing a little then pressing her lips to his ever so smoothly.

**XXXXX**

A few hours later Stefan called Caroline to have dinner together at the Grill. So there were them, sitting inside the Grill for 10 minutes without talking. Caroline who was sitting across Stefan and Elena crossed her arms over her chest, looking at them full of suspects. "So anything you two would like to share?" she asked, starting impatient.

Stefan and Elena glared to each other before exhaled. But then she started as soon as she leaned in to the table, releasing Stefan's hand from hers. "I know it's been way too long but I want to apologize to you, for everything I've said and done to you in my house. That was rude."

"Rude and hurt me, yes." she snapped. Elena gulped as she heard those words. "And?" Caroline asked again, wanting Elena to continue.

"Can you forgive me?" Elena asked uncertainly. Heck, she was afraid that Caroline was still mad at her. Since they're fighting about Elena avoided Stefan, Caroline never came or even called her again. Elena thought maybe Caroline was giving her a space so that she could think clearly. But after 2 weeks, it started to worry her. She knew that Caroline was a good friend, she would've called her even if she was mad at her.

Stefan raised an eyebrow at Caroline, waiting for her to answer. He also knew that Caroline was a good friend, he was sure she already had forgiven Elena a long time ago. "Caroline?" he called.

Caroline looked at Stefan then Elena with a straight face. But after a few moments she couldn't hide her smile anymore. Her lips curved into a wide smile and nodded. "Of course I can, Elena." she laughed when she saw Elena sighed as she smiled back at her. Stefan moved closer to Elena and caressed her head and nodded to Caroline.

"Oh come here you." Caroline invited, standing from her chair and leaned in to Elena to hug her tightly. "Welcome back, Elena." she whispered to her, which made Elena giggled. They pulled from each other's arms but Caroline held Elena still in place by hanging on her shoulder, "Are you ready for school?" she asked with so much consent.

Elena smiled and nodded. "Good because our team without you sucks." Caroline said again. "And didn't you miss to see your knight in shining armor playing football?" she added teasingly. Stefan chuckled as he heard Caroline's words.

"Of course I did." Elena answered, feeling her cheeks warmed. Then she sat back on the chair next to Stefan.

"How's your brother doing?" Caroline asked, changing the topic.

"Great. Oh and he went back to Indonesia last week."

"He did?"

"Yep, his holiday was over. What, why are you asking me about my brother?" Elena asked. "You're not into him, are you?"

Caroline blushed. "What? No way. Matt is enough." she slipped. Oops.

"You're with Matt now?" Elena asked surprisingly. "Since when?"

"For more than 2 weeks now." Stefan answered. Elena turned her face to see him, more surprised.

"You knew and didn't tell me?" she asked to her boyfriend disbelief.

"Hey don't blame me. I was too concerned about my girl who didn't even want to talk to me." he defended himself. Caroline was laughing at his words. But they made an effect on Elena and he realized it. "Sorry." he quickly apologized and kissed her cheek. Elena shook her head then smiled.

"No worries." Elena answered. Stefan leaned in to her then gave her a gentle kiss on her lips. Caroline groaned as she saw that and said to the couple to get a room.

"Find Matt, Care." was all Elena said before she lost in his kisses. Caroline said something about happy couple but none of them knew what exactly she said. Because yes, they were happy and it's enough for now.

**OOO**

Another two weeks passed. Time flied so fast, didn't it? Hell no, it's even extreme for Katherine.

A month ago, James came to her house and explained everything that happened between him and Katherine to her parents. He was shocked when Bryan told him that Katherine was pregnant and lost the baby when she had an accident. James didn't know that she was pregnant because she didn't say anything to him, which was strange for Katherine because she had told him. But James seemed forgot or pretended to not remember. And after that, Bryan successfully hit him on the face and gave him an ultimatum to not to see Katherine again.

"_I know we left you so far away for such a long time, kid. But it's for you. We're working hard for you." Bryan once said to her. "But honestly, I am disappointed. I mean I know we seem don't care about you but you have to know that we love you. You're everything to us." he added._

"_So what are you gonna do?" Katherine asked, facing her father bravely. She knew she made the most fatal mistake for being pregnant in such a young age but she couldn't do anything else._

_Bryan kept silent for a moment, thinking what would be the best. But then he asked, "What do you think about moving with us?"_

_Katherine gasped. "You mean France?"_

"_Yeah. I guess that is the best for you. For us. So we can watch and protect you." he reasoned._

"_What about her school?" her mother asked to Bryan._

"_She can continue her school in France, Leah." Bryan said. "So what do you think honey?" he asked to Katherine who was sitting near him and thinking so hard. She had to leave everything in here. Everyone, including Stefan._

"_When will we move?" she finally asked. She didn't really want to go but she didn't want to be here either. James made her sick._

_Bryan sighed. "How about the end of next month?"_

"_Isn't that too fast?" Leah asked again._

"_No, the end of next month is perfect." Katherine answered. "I gotta start pack my stuff." she said, standing up from the couch then walking into her room in a rush. She wanted to cry but there were no tears that came out. She needed something to hold. No, she needed someone to talk to. But she had no courage to call whoever it was. And she hated the fact that she felt all alone while she needed a company for the most._

Knock. Knock.

That sound brought Katherine back to the reality. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, holding a photo of her and Stefan when they were still dating. "Come in." she said, putting the photo in the box and closing it. "Hey." she greeted and smiled when she saw Stefan was walking in.

"Hey." he said back then stopped not so far from her, putting his hands in his pockets pants. "Have you packed everything?" he asked, looking around and saw nothing but boxes.

"As you can see." she simply answered. "What?" she asked as she realized he was looking at her.

"Are you sure you want to move?"

She scuffed. "I've packed everything and you just asked me about that?"

Stefan laughed a little. "Well, I was just being polite, trying to be seemed a good friend who doesn't want to let you go."

"Pathetic."

"Don't care." he said.

Katherine rolled her eyes then became serious. "I need to tell you something, Stefan."

Stefan raised and furrowed his eyebrows. "About what? You were pregnant?"

She gasped silently. "How did you…"

"Your father told me."

"Right. My father. I should've known." she said, nodding. "But why you didn't say anything?"

"What would you want me to say?" he asked back, moving to sit beside her on the edge of her bed.

She shrugged then said, "I don't know. Cursing me and yelling how disappointed you are." Stefan chuckled as he nodded. "Anything." she added.

"I am disappointed, yes." he started, looking at the wall in front of him. "But I know it's not necessary. You're a strong girl though. You got your lesson, so be careful for the next time."

"There will be no next time." she said certainly.

"Who knows?" he asked, smiling as he turning his face to look at her. "But I believe you, Katherine. Be wise okay? And don't worry about James, I've _talked_ to him, you know like gave him an ultimatum and etc." there, the perfect Stefan Salvatore had touched her heart and made her melt. She felt her eyes were teary in all of sudden so she turning her head to other side so he wouldn't see.

"I'm sorry." she said, turning her face to see him again after wiped the tears away.

"For what?"

"For everything I've done to you. For being all bitchy to you." She laughed a little. "And for breaking up with you." she nudged his side with her arms.

"Ha ha you're so funny." he stated. "I'm sorry too, for everything."

She nodded. "There is something more I have to tell you." she exhaled deeply before added, "I… I'm not actually, you know… sick." Stefan looked confused when she said that. Did he forget about that? "Remember when I told you that I got cancer?"

He stayed quiet, trying to remember when she said that. After a few moments, he remembered it then looked at her disbelief. "You're not really sick?"

"No. I'm sorry, Stefan. I know I lied but now…"

Stefan shook his head. "Why did you lie, Katherine?"

"Because I was jealous with you and Elena." she honestly answered.

"Jealous?"

"I was used to get attention from you but since Elena came and became your girlfriend, you dumped me."

"Hey, you're the one who dumped me." he said back at her. "And uh I'm happy that you're not really sick. But that still wasn't nice, Katherine. Do not ever lie to people again okay?"

She nodded weakly. "Okay." The soft side of Stefan never failed to touch her heart and mind. "How is Elena doing?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Fine. She says hi."

"Huh. My rival says hi? Unbelievable."

"Good God, the sassy Katherine is back." he said, rolling his eyes. "I've gotta go though, Damon needs me to clean the house." he stood up and Katherine followed him.

"You clean the house?" she asked playfully. "You're not that kind of guy."

"You just don't know that." he winked. "In what time your plane will take off?"

"Tomorrow at 2 PM." she answered. "You'll go to the airport, won't you?"

"Of course." he said, reassuring her. "So see you tomorrow?" she nodded then leaned in to hug him. He hugged her back but quickly pulled away before her hands went down to his ass. "Don't even think about it, Miss Pierce." She just laughed out loud then Stefan walked to her door.

"Hey Stefan?"

"Yeah?" he stopped then turned around to see her again.

"Thank you for everything. And I'm sorry."

He nodded. "Stay healthy." then he walked out of her room. She sighed and sat back on her bed. She didn't realize that her tears went down on her cheeks until it fell from her jaw to her hands. She felt everything at the moment; the sadness, the happiness, the curiousness but relieved that Stefan wasn't mad at her even though she had done bad things towards him. But she hoped they would remain as friends. Now all she needed to do was preparing herself for the new life in France.

At least there were boutiques.

**A/N : Dear God let me have my own Stefan Salvatore in my life please.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Jeez I've abandoned this story for almost 2 years O_O. I'm SO SO SO SO SO sorry I left you hanging. Hope you guys still enjoy the new chapter and please tell me what you think about it. Thank you, my lovely readers! 3**

Stefan and Elena arrived at the airport an hour before Katherine's plane take off. They didn't take much time to find her with her parents near the international departure gate. At first, Stefan didn't want Elena to come with him since he knew how bad Katherine treated Elena in the past. But she successfully reassured him that she would be okay, she already forgave her and just wanted to make a good relation with her before she went to France. Stefan gave up after that, because he knew Elena would do her best to do anything for whatever she believed was right.

"Are you nervous?" he asked Elena as they walked towards Katherine and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"A little." she answered honestly.

"I got you, don't worry." he whispered, caressing Elena's hair before releasing his hand from her shoulder and grabbing her hand instead.

"I know." she nodded.

"Stefan, you're here." Bryan greeted, offering a hand shake. Stefan smiled then shook his hand.

"Who is this beautiful girl?" Leah asked, looking at Elena kindly.

"Mom." Katherine called, rolling her eyes.

"I'm Elena Gilbert." Elena answered as she smiled. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Pierce." she continued, shaking her hand with Leah and then Bryan.

"She's Stefan's girlfriend." Katherine informed. Leah and Bryan looked at their daughter instantly. "What?" she asked.

Leah caressed Katherine's cheek before said, "I need to go to the rest room, you wanna come dear?"

"No, I'm fine." she answered. Leah murmured okay then walked towards the rest room which was not too far from their waiting spot.

"So, Stefan, I need to talk to you for a second." Bryan told him. Stefan turned his face to see Elena then she nodded, letting him to go with Bryan. He walked behind the old man he respected to a place where neither Katherine nor Elena could hear them.

Katherine sighed heavily which took Elena's attention. Elena knew Katherine was more nervous and probably stressed about moving to another country. Or maybe because she just lost her baby...? She wasn't sure enough about that though.

"Do you know how good Stefan is as a boyfriend?" Katherine started a conversation. Elena was too focused on staring at her that she forgot to answer her question. Katherine turned her face to see Elena, making sure she heard what she asked to her. "Umm hello, I'm talking to you."

Elena startled, blinking her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry." Elena said, taking a seat near Katherine. "I know that he is a good guy. Amazing even."

Katherine looked at her front and smiled. "He's always been a good person since we were kids. I've known him for almost 14 years and he didn't change. Except after we broke up a year ago. I'm not sure but he became more..."

"Careful?" Elena completed. Katherine laughed a little, agreeing with what Elena said.

"Yeah. He became an introvert guy which was strange. Everyone knows him as an extra-extrovert person but then, bam. He changed."

Elena listened to every single Katherine's words. She really wanted to know about the old Stefan, before she came here. Before she knew him.

"But then you came, Elena." she continued, looking at Elena's eyes. "I knew you were gonna turn his world upside down and he became his old-self once again."

"No, it's not me, Katherine." Elena denied shyly. "He didn't change because of me. That was because he wanted it for himself."

"But you are his source of encouragement to change." Katherine simply said. "Believe me or not, Stefan is not an easy one. I mean he's not like Damon who takes everything easily. Once Stefan gets brooding over something, he'll stay in that phase for a really long time."

Elena looked at Stefan who was still talking to Bryan, smiling when he looked back at her. "I didn't know that." Elena turned her face back to Katherine with the sadness that she couldn't hide. Katherine noticed that and raised her eyebrows.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You look sad."

Elena shrugged as she smiled half heartedly. "I don't know."

"You're hiding something from him, aren't you?" Katherine suddenly snapped. Elena stayed quiet. "It's useless, Elena. Sooner or later, he's going to find out about it."

"I guess I'll let him to find out by himself then."

Katherine threw her gaze at Stefan and her father. "Up to you." she said shortly then stood up, walking towards the men. Elena watched her leaving and suddenly felt panic when she saw Katherine pulled Stefan away from her father. _Oh my God, what is Katherine doing? Is she going to tell him that I'm hiding something?_

"Where's Katherine?" Leah suddenly asked, standing behind Elena. She quickly turned around and smiled at Leah.

"She's with Stefan. Right there." she answered, pointing the spot with her finger.

"I see." Leah smiled, walking to her bags trolley and taking a handkerchief. "How long have you been with Stefan by the way?" she asked again, wiping her hands with the handkerchief to dry them.

"Almost 3 months." she politely answered.

"You're their school friend?" she asked again, sitting in front of Elena as she looked at Katherine and Stefan.

"Yes, Mrs. Pierce. But I was a new student."

"Where did you come from?"

"Indonesia."

"Ah Indonesia, beautiful country. I've been there three times." Leah told her. "Which city?"

"South Jakarta."

Leah was about to ask her more questions when Bryan suddenly appeared and told Leah to get ready. Katherine and Stefan walked towards them not too long after Bryan called her. Stefan automatically stopped his steps and stood beside Elena, wrapping his arm around her waist. He didn't look suspicious at her though but it didn't make Elena relieved. She was still curious about what Katherine said to him.

"Thank you so much for everything, Stefan. You always helped us." Leah said, pulling Stefan into her motherly embrace. "If you need anything, you can call us." she added, patting his back then pulling away. "Take care, okay?"

Stefan smiled. "I will, Mrs. Pierce."

Bryan did the same to Stefan and reminded him to remember what he said earlier. Stefan chuckled as he nodded. "Come on, you don't want to hug me?" Stefan asked Katherine playfully, extending his arms as a hug invitation.

Katherine rolled her eyes but still came towards him and hugged him tightly. Elena saw Katherine's eyes were teary before she buried her face on Stefan's chest. But she thought that it was okay though.

"It's so nice meeting you, Elena." Leah said, walking to her and hugging her as well.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Pierce." Elena said back and pulled away. Bryan just shook his hand with her then pulled Leah to the gate, leaving Katherine alone to say goodbye more longer to Stefan and Elena.

Katherine pulled away from Stefan's chest, wiping her tears. "I hate being sentimental like this."

Stefan caressed her hair smoothly. "Good God sassy Katherine is still here."

"Thanks for the compliment, dude." Katherine said, fist bumping Stefan which only made Stefan laugh. "And Elena..." she added, looking at her. Elena gulped, feeling more nervous in all of sudden. "Thank you for coming here. And I'm sorry for everything I've done to you."

Elena grew a smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm sorry too, Katherine." she walked closer to her ex rival and hugged her. Katherine was surprised at first but then she hugged Elena back and saw Stefan was smiling at her, supporting what was happening between the girls.

"Goodbye, Kat. Take care." Stefan said as he watched she was pulling away from Elena. She only nodded then grabbed her bag.

"Oh can I tell you something?" Katherine asked, looking at Stefan. He furrowed his eyebrows but then walked closer to her again. She was about to whisper him something but then she changed her mind. She kissed him on the cheek instead and literally ran towards the gate.

"Well played, Kat! You'll pay!" Stefan yelled, he wasn't angry though. Elena was speechless when it happened but then she laughed, didn't believe how smart Katherine was. They both looked at Katherine who was still running and then turned around, waving a goodbye to them. They waved back until Katherine was out of their sight.

Stefan turned to his side as he smiled at Elena then grabbed her hand. "Let's go home." he said, leading her way to the parking lot to get to his car and went home.

**ooo**

Instead of going home, Stefan took Elena to a public park. He wanted to spend the day with her. So after they had lunch at The Mystic Grill, he told her what he wanted and she agreed. She wanted to be with Stefan all day too.

They were walking side by side, holding each other's hand when Elena asked about Caroline and Matt. When did they get together and how. And why Stefan didn't tell her about that happy story right away.

"Matt was her ex boyfriend." Stefan started to answer her questions. "I know right." he laughed at how surprised Elena was. "They were a couple since the 9th grade. But when we got into highschool, they suddenly broke up. I didn't intend to know more about them because I thought it was their privacy. So I was just being cool." he explained.

"But they seemed okay to each other for a sudden break up." Elena commented, remembering how Caroline acted near Matt in the beginning she came to Mystic Falls.

Stefan shrugged. "Not really. They actually avoided each other."

"Really?" Elena asked, looking at Stefan. "I guess I wasn't good enough at paying attention to other people then."

Stefan laughed as he heard that. "No, it's not like that." He stopped his steps below a big tree then pulled Elena to sit down. "They just knew how to act." he told her, laying down and placing his head on Elena's lap.

"Nice try to make me feel better, buddy." Elena giggled, caressing his hair slowly. He closed his eyes, enjoying Elena's smooth touch. "By the way, can I ask you something?"

Stefan opened his eyes, looking at Elena closely. "Shoot."

"What did Katherine say to you before we said goodbye to her?" she asked curiously as she kept caressing Stefan's hair.

Stefan sighed then closed his eyes again. "It's not important, Elena."

"Hey, why is that?" she protested. "Is it about me?"

"What about you?" he asked her back, opening his eyes. "Did she threaten you again?" he asked, getting up to study Elena's expression.

She cleared her throat before shook her head. "No, she didn't do anything to me."

"Then why did you ask that?"

"I'm just curious." she said easily. "So what is it about?" she asked again, biting her lip. It was her new bad habit when she was too nervous about something.

"She asked for my help." he told her.

"Help for...?"

"Anything she needs." he answered again. "I told her to send me a message whenever she needs me."

Elena's eyes were softer after that, feeling more relieved because that meant Katherine didn't say anything about their conversation.

"Are you okay with that?" he asked her carefully, not wanting to hurt her.

She smiled beautifully. "Of course."

He smiled at her too then leaned in to kiss her. "Thank you." he whispered, leaning his forehead against Elena's. She nodded then kissed him again.

"Now, tell me about anything you haven't told me." Stefan ordered, laying down and placing his head on Elena's lap once again. "I want to know more about you."

Elena giggled then nodded. "Okay, Mr. Bossy." then she did what he ordered. Because she thought that the more he knew about her, the less she had to keep secrets from him. Well, except _that_ one thing. She decided to keep it to herself. He would find out someday and she must be ready at that time.

**ooo**

"Hey, beautiful girl."

She smiled at her screen. "Hi Arden." she greeted back. "Finally we can Skype."

He laughed, leaned back to his chair. But then he watched her smile faded. Arden knew something was bothering her. "What is it?" he asked.

"You really know when I have something in mind." she said, smiling a little.

"Oh please." he said back, rolling his eyes. "Tell me, Elena. Please?" he begged, looking at her pitifully.

"Don't you dare to pity me." she warned. She really hated when people did that to her. He apologized then tried to make his normal face.

"Is this about Stefan...?" he carefully guessed. "Did he hurt you?" he asked again, impatiently waiting for her answers.

She shook her head no. "He is always good to me."

"Then what is it?" he continued to ask, feeling miserable because he couldn't hold her right then. He knew she really needed someone to do that.

"I'm tired, Arden. I'm really tired." she confessed, looking at Arden hopelessly. She didn't realize that her tears fell onto her cheeks until she covered her face with her hands.

"Elena..." he called, just looking at her desperately. "Elena, tell me about it. Please."

She let her hands fall onto the table then looked at Arden. She didn't care how bad she looked when she cried, she just wanted Arden to listen to her. "I'm tired of keeping this secret to Stefan, Arden." she sobbed. "I really want to tell him but... but I can't."

Arden sighed heavily. He knew today would come, the day where she felt she couldn't hide it anymore. He knew this wasn't fair for her but she's gotta take it as what it was.

"Stefan wanted me to tell him about everything. I did, I told him what I like and what I don't like. I told him about my favorite things and what are not. Except that one. Do you know how hard it is? It's like my heart is breaking into pieces. It's really hard, Arden. I started to think that life isn't fair for me." she continued, letting her mental breakdown came to the surface.

"Ssh, ssh, Elena, don't say that." Arden said. It really broke his heart too, hearing her desperate words. "I know this might be wrong but you have to be strong. For you. For him. For everyone who loves you."

Elena shook her head no as a sign that she didn't agree with Arden's words. Even though she knew it was right but she just couldn't take it literally. "I can't, Arden. I really want him to know but it'll only make him sad. And it'll make me more sad and hate my life."

He knew it wouldn't be easy with her but he wanted her to know that she was wrong. She was just gonna torture herself with these hurtful thoughts. But he also knew that saying anything to Elena right then was useless, she wouldn't listen to his words. So he just sat there, staring at his screen, patiently and hopelessly listening to Elena's sob all night long until she fell asleep in front of her laptop.

**A/N: So what you guys think? Hope you enjoyed it and please give me some reviews so I can make it better for the next chapters. Thank you so much for reading! :D**


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